1 min
Over the last 2 years, ginger farmers in Nigeria have suffered the biggest losses in the last 2 decades with over 80% of their production completely destroyed due to the blight disease. Aside from the revenue loss, healthy planting materials have been scarce since farmers take planting materials (rhizomes) from the previous harvest. So, no available planting materials to plant (or extremely high price if available and many at times, the planting materials are not healthy), and support has been so limited, resulting in very low production of ginger in Nigeria and driving more farmers away from the business.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) foreign trade data shows that Nigeria’s ginger exports declined 74 percent to N6.28 billion in nine months of 2024 from N23.76 billion in the corresponding period of 2023. It is a terrible situation now. As it stands, the situation can become worse if nothing significant is done to salvage it.
Although there has been support from different organisations such as CBI Netherlands, COLEAD and other private organisations to support the ginger supply chain, much more support is needed to help restore and stabilize the supply chain. Firstly, there is a need to develop and multiply pure and healthy rhizomes (planting materials) in large quantities in order to make planting materials available and affordable for the farmers.
We need to empower our research institute such as NRCRI (The National Root Crops Research Institute) to step in for seedlings multiplication. This initiative should be driven by the private sector and supported by the different committees that have been set up by the government to tackle the ginger blight diseases.
In addition, the government needs to provide incentives for businesses working with ginger farmers to help reduce the losses they've incurred over the last 2 years since the incident started. Also, support initiatives that will help the ginger supply chain to recover from the shocks. We need to achieve a thriving ginger supply chain within the next 2-3 years, without losing our place in the market.
This is a call to action for the government, private sector, NGOs and other stakeholders in the ginger value chain to brace up and walk the talks to genuinely address these challenges in the supply chain. We cannot afford to lose our ginger, which is one of the most sought-after commodities in the international market. This is a call to help build a more resilient ginger supply chain that will build the capacity of the farmers, more money into their pocket and help the Nigerian government to earn more through export proceeds. Today, we need to act, act and act until the solution is felt in our ginger supply chain.
Yours-in-Service
Babatunde
Although there has been support from different organisations such as CBI Netherlands, COLEAD and other private organisations to support the ginger supply chain, much more support is needed to help restore and stabilize the supply chain. Firstly, there is a need to develop and multiply pure and healthy rhizomes (planting materials) in large quantities in order to make planting materials available and affordable for the farmers.
We need to empower our research institute such as NRCRI (The National Root Crops Research Institute) to step in for seedlings multiplication. This initiative should be driven by the private sector and supported by the different committees that have been set up by the government to tackle the ginger blight diseases.
In addition, the government needs to provide incentives for businesses working with ginger farmers to help reduce the losses they've incurred over the last 2 years since the incident started. Also, support initiatives that will help the ginger supply chain to recover from the shocks. We need to achieve a thriving ginger supply chain within the next 2-3 years, without losing our place in the market.
This is a call to action for the government, private sector, NGOs and other stakeholders in the ginger value chain to brace up and walk the talks to genuinely address these challenges in the supply chain. We cannot afford to lose our ginger, which is one of the most sought-after commodities in the international market. This is a call to help build a more resilient ginger supply chain that will build the capacity of the farmers, more money into their pocket and help the Nigerian government to earn more through export proceeds. Today, we need to act, act and act until the solution is felt in our ginger supply chain.
Yours-in-Service
Babatunde
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