Hardship: Traders, consumers lament tomatoes price hike

Some tomato traders and consumers have lamented the recent scarcity and hike in the price of the produce in the country.

They said this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

The traders who attributed the scarcity and hike to seasonal occurrence said there was nothing they could do but to sell in accordance with the market value.

They, however, predicted that the scarcity would likely last till late September or early October.

Mr Musa Yakubu, a tomatoes trader in a popular Ile-epo market at the Alimosho Local Government, said the boom season of tomatoes had passed.

Yakubu added that the harvest season of tomatoes was over, hence the recent hike in the price of the produce.

“The tomatoes specie available currently is the plum tomatoes from the south, popularly known for its high water content and tangy taste,” Yakubu said.

On his part, Mr Umar Yusuf, another tomato seller, said the scarcity of the produce led to the hike in the price of the produce.

“Tomatoes are currently expensive because they are out of season, transporting them from north to south is also a major factor that has affected price hike of the produce.

“A medium basket of tomatoes goes between N24,000 and N30,000 depending on the size of the fruit, while a raffia basket sells for N42,000.

“A small basket of tomatoes presently sells at N16,000 as against N5,000 or N6,000 in March/April, this is because the product is out of season.

“There is nothing we can do about it, it is a seasonal scarcity,” Yusuf said.

Some of the consumers said they have no choice but to improvise the use of tomatoes in their cooking due to the price hike.

Mrs Josephine Kallo, a resident in the Amuwo-Odofin area of the state, says she buys only what she can afford.

“The cost of tomatoes has risen astronomically, we used to buy a small paint bucket for N1,500 some weeks ago but now it goes for as high as N4,000. Vanguard