[size=14pt]Nigeria Now Imports Bananas[/size]

Posted By On November 11, 2010


The influx of imported banana into the country is posing a threat to the livelihood of local banana farmers and traders.

An investigation by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday showed that the foreign banana which is increasingly gaining a foothold in Abuja, is imported from Cameroon and Togo.

Sellers and buyers who spoke to NAN attributed the high patronage, in spite of its cost, to the fresh appearance, smooth skin, size and taste.

The investigation showed that the commodity is being sold at strategic locations such as banks, shopping plazas and fruit markets, among other public places.

Ibrahim Ahmed, who sells the fruit in front of Basam Plaza where the ANPP Secretariat is located in the Central Business District, told NAN that the imported banana sold faster, compared to the local variety.

He said that a bunch of five fingers costs N200 as against N70 for the local variety.

Mama Ali, another seller by Ahmadu Coommassie House also in the Central Business District, corroborated Ahmed’s views.

Ali said that the “banana arrives here unripe but the way it is stored in the cold warehouse and its unique taste makes it very appealing to buyers.”

Malam Zakari Yau who sells fruits at the Maitama Fruit Market, said the foreign banana could stay for three weeks before being declared unfit for human consumption.

Yau also agreed that imported banana attracted more patronage than the local ones.

He, however, said that the development posed a serious threat to the local banana industry and the entire economy.

He called on the government to stop the people responsible for the banana imports to enable the local ones make the desired impact.

“What does it take for a government to get the specie of this kind of banana into the country and empower the unemployed to go back to farm so that we produce it instead of importing?’’ he asked.

Yau, who has a masters degree in Economics, said it was the same variety that Shonga Farms in Kwara State produced but not enough for export.

He appealed to the three tiers of government to as a matter of urgency, provide all that it takes to reduce unemployment and produce sufficient food for the people.

When NAN visited the Mararraba Orange Market where the warehouse is located, the director was said to be out of town on official assignment.

At the market, one of the labourers, Mal Iliya Dan Azumi told NAN that he and his colleagues used to offload at least 11 articulated vehicles of the imported banana daily.

He said vehicles came from Togo and Cameroon, adding that buyers came from Kogi, Niger, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Plateau states.

One of the customers, Nana Ilya, also said she was content with the N2,500 to N3,000 profit she made from the sale of the foreign banana in three days.

Margret Timothy who resides in Karu area of Abuja, said she preferred to buy the foreign banana than the local ones because imported banana had a longer shelf life.

Yusuf Lawal, a civil servant living in Jikoyi area, said the imported banana was very good to his body system, adding that it helped him clean his bowel every morning.

“Anytime I take it after my meal in the evening, I empty my bowel in the morning and start the day very fresh,’’ he said.

Mr Nicholas Jack, an agricultural engineer with Embee Farms in Kaduna, expressed regret that in spite of the vast agricultural land, Nigeria was still importing fruits after 50 years of nationhood.

“Sometimes, I feel like crying for this country; just imagine, other countries came here to learn.

“A few years later, they took the lead; what is our problem?” he asked, adding:“Our leaders should fear God and do what is right.’’

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2010/11/11/, mports-banana/

This doesn't make any sense. See this is the problem when nations do not grow their own food. I can't only blame Nigeria. These Structural Adjustment Programs forbid many African nations from subsidizing their farmers, while Western nations provide subsidies to their farmers.

He said that a bunch of five fingers costs N200 as against N70 for the local variety.

What? I am really confused. The imported bananas are nearly 3 times as expensive (I suppose for similar volume), yet are kicking the @$$ of the local ones?

So are the local bananas that terrible? I remember eating bananas when last I went to Nigeria, and thought they were great.

I understand shelf life is an issue, but surely the price discrepancy should be enough for people to prefer local ones?

DapoBear:

What? I am really confused. The imported bananas are nearly 3 times as expensive (I suppose for similar volume), yet are kicking the @$$ of the local ones?

So are the local bananas that terrible? I remember eating bananas when last I went to Nigeria, and thought they were great.

I understand shelf life is an issue, but surely the price discrepancy should be enough for people to prefer local ones?

It must be Okoro people who are doing this importation. Why do Nigerians have so much inferiority complex as to prefer imported bananas to local ones. WTF?

Aloy+Emeka:

It must be Okoro people who are doing this importation. Why do Nigerians have so much inferiority complex as to prefer imported bananas to local ones. WTF?

why is the question?

don,t they grow this sort of food in the sw again

Spoilage seems to me sort of a non-issue too. It isn't like the local bananas spoil in under 24 hrs, right? If they'll last 2 days or so, you just buy 2 days worth at a time, then send your houseboy/girl to the market to buy more when you run out.

Also, shouldn't we understand better if this is actually an issue by comparing year-to-year volume of banana imports? That would be a lot more revealing than a random sensationalistic article where some white guy is crying all over the place

alj harem:

why is the question?

don,t they grow this sort of food in the sw again

May be your Northern people do not actually have the strength to produce enough food for Nigerians like they claim. May be without oil from Southern Nigeria, you people will also die from kwashiokor.

EzeUche0:

This doesn't make any sense. See this is the problem when nations do not grow their own food. I can't only blame Nigeria. These Structural Adjustment Programs forbid many African nations from subsidizing their farmers, while Western nations provide subsidies to their farmers.

I honestly don't care too much about this. I'm not a fan of us subsidizing private businesses. Really, if a Western farmer is able to produce tomatoes (for example) cheaper than a Nigerian farmer, even after his higher labor costs, shipping fees to Nigeria, etc, then that means there is something wrong with the Nigerian farmer, or the viability of the product made locally. You don't want to throw away money into an unviable business like that, imo.

Let us focus on what we can do well without subsidies, anything else, we can import.

Aloy+Emeka:

May be your Northern people do not actually have the strength to produce enough food for Nigerians like they claim. May be without oil from Southern Nigeria, you people will also die from kwashiokor.

don't make me angry

are bananas grown in the north, is the condition suitable for the growth of bananas

DapoBear:

I honestly don't care too much about this. I'm not a fan of us subsidizing private businesses. Really, if a Western farmer is able to produce tomatoes (for example) cheaper than a Nigerian farmer, even after his higher labor costs, shipping fees to Nigeria, etc, then that means there is something wrong with the Nigerian farmer, or the viability of the product made locally. You don't want to throw away money into an unviable business like that, imo.

Let us focus on what we can do well without subsidies, anything else, we can import.

There is nothing wrong with them. The only thing wrong is they don't have what they need to produce food in large quantity unlike the Western farmers. An Igbo engineer  I know in Lagos left his oil company job to do fish farming in large scale. He was successful until his fishing business started failing and I asked him what the problem is and he said : Their food is expensive and there is this alga that poisons the fishes often and some of the pesticides they buy are imported and most times, they don't work because oyibo manufactured the pesticide for their environmental pests. To successfully deal with those ones in naija, he contemplated taking the poisoned water to a company in China so they can analyse the alga and find the right solution but it will be very expensive because they said that he will have to fund the research and there are no assurances. He turned the banks for about N30M loan so as to fund it and if it becomes successful, the bank can take 80% of the proceeds but no bank agreed to take such risks. He also said that if he can find funding, he will start producing their food locally because they locally produced one they have now is not as good as the imported ones.

alj harem:

don't make me angry

are bananas grown in the north, is the condition suitable for the growth of bananas

Mumu, bananas grow well  in Kwara,Kogi and Plateau, are those places South?. They also grow in large quantities in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Imo,Cross River and Rivers.

Aloy+Emeka:

There is nothing wrong with them. The only thing wrong is they don't have what they need to produce food in large quantity unlike the Western farmers. An Igbo engineer  I know in Lagos left his oil company job to do fish farming in large scale. He was successful until his fishing business started failing and I asked him what the problem is and he said : Their food is expensive and there is this alga that poisons the fishes often and some of the pesticides they buy are imported and most times, they don't work because oyibo manufactured the pesticide for their environmental pests. To successfully deal with those ones in naija, he contemplated taking the poisoned water to a company in China so they can analyse the alga and find the right solution but it will be very expensive because they said that he will have to fund the research and there are no assurances. He turned the banks for about N30M loan so as to fund it and if it becomes successful, the bank can take 80% of the proceeds but no bank agreed to take such risks. He also said that if he can find funding, he will start producing their food locally because they locally produced one they have now is not as good as the imported ones.

Must he go to China to have the water analyzed? Could he not have it done by say a Nigerian university? Surely there is going to be someone (perhaps chemical engineering, or perhaps bioengineering department?) who would have knowledge of how to do this. He might be able to save himself money in the process.

I don't see why it should cost $200K to simply analyze water.

Only yamheads will prefer pesticide infested mass produced foreign bananas to organically grown tasty nigerian bananas

Aloy+Emeka:

Mumu, bananas grow well  in Kwara,Kogi and Plateau, are those places South?. They also grow in large quantities in Abia, Akwa Ibom,  Imo,Cross River and Rivers.

cow!!!!!

so kwara and kogi ppl would allow ther sw brothers to lack food
kwara and kogi is full of Bayarabe(yoruba) ppl so technically it is sw but geographically it is north

plateau is not core north

this places are not core north

DapoBear:

Must he go to China to have the water analyzed? Could he not have it done by say a Nigerian university? Surely there is going to be someone (perhaps chemical engineering, or perhaps bioengineering department?) who would have knowledge of how to do this. He might be able to save himself money in the process.

I don't see why it should cost $200K to simply analyze water.

Which university will analyze it and how sure are you that they are going to do it?. $200k is the estimated cost for research, development, production, licensing, shipment and marketing. That will cost more than that if you ask me. The R& is the worst because you don't know how much it will cost to analyze the water and find the antidote. What if it's a virus that cannot be killed, what if it is a specie of fungus that will need special chemical formula to quench, what if?

Bayarabe is how you say Yoruba in Hausa? I did not know that.

now u know
inyamrai igbo or southerners

This banana importation, while being condemnable, doesn't seem to be much of a problem, because from what I gather from the source, its only market sellers who are getting these bananas and, since markets and their sellers are so private, i think that it'll only be a matter of weeks or months before they decide that local bananas are better again.

MShittu:

This banana importation, while being condemnable, doesn't seem to be much of a problem, because from what I gather from the source, its only market sellers who are getting these bananas and, since markets and their sellers are so private, i think that it'll only be a matter of weeks or months before they decide that local bananas are better again.

Trust me, if they are not selling it, they won't be importing it.

Sounds like good business to me, the imports should continue jare.

invisible!:

Sounds like good business to me, the imports should continue jare.

And kill our economy the more. Are you kiddin' me?

Aloy+Emeka:

Which university will analyze it and how sure are you that they are going to do it?. $200k is the estimated cost for research, development, production, licensing, shipment and marketing. That will cost more than that if you ask me. The R& is the worst because you don't know how much it will cost to analyze the water and find the antidote. What if it's a virus that cannot be killed, what if it is a specie of fungus that will need special chemical formula to quench, what if?

To be honest, I don't know enough about the capabilities of Nigerian universities, what they can and cannot do. But I would first look locally and see if he can have (competent!) Nigerians do the research for him. I would suggest doing a bit of investigation online, make a few phone calls and inquire whether say there is someone in one of the university departments who can perform this sort of analysis. Maybe then schedule a meeting and see whether they know enough. If there is no one locally who is up to the task, then yes check abroad.

BTW, I'm in no way any sort of bio or environmental engineer, this is just what I'd do if it were me. For all you know, all he needs to do is to add one additional ingredient to his existing pesticide to make it work for the local algae. So don't necessarily assume that it will require some magical solution that only some lab in China can provide.

Aloy+Emeka:

Trust me, if they are not selling it, they won't be importing it.

I don't understand what you mean :S

its is the best thing that will happen to ng. A banana republic importing bananas. It goes paripasu.

alj harem:

now u know
inyamrai igbo or southerners

I listened to the goodluck jonathan campaign song in Hausa. Really quite a beautiful language.

DapoBear:

To be honest, I don't know enough about the capabilities of Nigerian universities, what they can and cannot do. But I would first look locally and see if he can have (competent!) Nigerians do the research for him. I would suggest doing a bit of investigation online, make a few phone calls and inquire whether say there is someone in one of the university departments who can perform this sort of analysis. Maybe then schedule a meeting and see whether they know enough. If there is no one locally who is up to the task, then yes check abroad.

BTW, I'm in no way any sort of bio or environmental engineer, this is just what I'd do if it were me. For all you know, all he needs to do is to add one additional ingredient to his existing pesticide to make it work for the local algae. So don't necessarily assume that it will require some magical solution that only some lab in China can provide.

The people who will give him audience will end up collecting money from him forever and will likely not come up with anything in 5 years. No be Naija?. If the so called group finds the solution at your expense, what assurance will you have that hey won't sell the formula  to another Aba company who will mass produce it before you wake up in the morning the next day?. Ethics is a serious issue in Nigeria, if you don't know.  Besides, after coming up with the formula, one still needs to produce them and the required raw materials may not be available locally.

MShittu:

I don't understand what you mean :S

You claimed that locally produced bananas will soon outclass the imported ones and I am telling you that Nigerians have strange mentality because if those people importing the bananas are not making huge profits from it, they wouldn't be doing it which should tell you that they have people who are ready to pay the N200 for five fingers instead of paying N70 for a local specie.

Didn't Obasanjo propose the importation of beans from the republic of Thomas Sankara at the cost of $250M per annum until the media insulted his government so much that he had to cancel the idea?. So, the importation of food items is not new to Nigeria. Wait for the next shocker, it will be the importation of charcoal, firewood, marijuana and crayfish from Cameroun or Chad.

Aloy+Emeka:

The people who will give him audience will end up collecting money from him forever and will likely not come up with anything in 5 years. No be Naija?. If the so called group finds the solution at your expense, what assurance will you have that hey won't sell the formula  to another Aba company who will mass produce it before you wake up in the morning the next day?. Ethics is a serious issue in Nigeria, if you don't know.  Besides, after coming up with the formula, one still needs to produce them and the required raw materials may not be available locally.

Hmm, I see, that is quite unfortunate. You'd figure something like this would be a perfect task for Nigerians to do, since it sounds like a chemical engineering sort of job. Definitely makes it much harder to do business if you cannot even trust the university you are partnering with not to d1ck you over.

Aloy+Emeka:

You claimed that locally produced bananas will soon outclass the imported ones and I am telling you that Nigerians have strange mentality because if those people importing the bananas are not making huge profits from it, they wouldn't be doing it which should tell you that they have people who are ready to pay the N200 for five fingers instead of paying N70 for a local specie.

Didn't Obasanjo propose the importation of beans from the republic of Thomas Sankara at the cost of $250M per annum until the media insulted his government so much that he had to cancel the idea?. So, the importation of food items is not new to Nigeria. Wait for the next shocker, it will be the importation of charcoal, firewood, marijuana and crayfish from Cameroun or Chad.

Well that sucks,

Never fear, we shall never import marijuana into Nigeria when we can source it from Ekiti

Aloy+Emeka:

There is nothing wrong with them. The only thing wrong is they don't have what they need to produce food in large quantity unlike the Western farmers. An Igbo engineer  I know in Lagos left his oil company job to do fish farming in large scale. He was successful until his fishing business started failing and I asked him what the problem is and he said : Their food is expensive and there is this alga that poisons the fishes often and some of the pesticides they buy are imported and most times, they don't work because oyibo manufactured the pesticide for their environmental pests. To successfully deal with those ones in naija, he contemplated taking the poisoned water to a company in China so they can analyse the alga and find the right solution but it will be very expensive because they said that he will have to fund the research and there are no assurances. He turned the banks for about N30M loan so as to fund it and if it becomes successful, the bank can take 80% of the proceeds but no bank agreed to take such risks. He also said that if he can find funding, he will start producing their food locally because they locally produced one they have now is not as good as the imported ones.

You are so wrong as far as bananas are concerned! Nigerians fail to look within for solutions because of a pervading inferiority complex.

We have a banana and plantain harvester here; http://afrosciencecommunity.com/Invention/Page2
. . .And it is 100% FREE!

If Nigerians are serious, they would take a good look at what is there, produce the damn machines and increase banana and plantain crop yield exponecially. The plan is there, free for anybody to look at and run with.

DapoBear:

Never fear, we shall never import marijuana into Nigeria when we can source it from Ekiti

lol