Nigerian Concord Newspaper
While in my village, Atekombo, Mbagba, Ushongo LGA, last night, my kinsmen gathered at my country home to ‘tema imóngo’ with me, during which we shared ideas on a number of issues.
They had specifically sent me a message to the Governorship Candidate of the PDP, Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN, appealing that when he wins the 2027 election and assumes office as Governor, he should act fast and decisively to save them from impending doom.
According to the experiences they shared with me, produce from their farms are continually being underpriced, to the extent that, after the investments they make on their farms, from preparing and tilling the land, to planting their crops, applying herbicides, insecticides and fertilisers, and ultimately harvesting the yield, it is not possible to even recover their investment, when they sell those produce.
Poignant examples abound of how undervalued and underpriced produce from the farms of Benue are.
A bag of oranges currently sells for around N3,000 to N4,000 in the villages, and mostly the villagers usually have to pluck the fruits, bag them, and wait for buyers who take days to come, and who even when they come, have the liberty to decide what they will pay.
I am an orange orchard owner, and I know that, to maintain a farm to the point of harvesting a bag of orange fruits, selling it at N4,000 doesn’t break even on the investment, but rather leaves the farmer in deficit.
There is also the issue of cassava, which is a major cash crop for Benue farmers.
A big bag of dried cassava is selling for N3,000, while a big bag of garri, which takes so much investment to produce is selling for a paltry N10,000.
The story is the same for almost all crops farmed by the majority of farmers in the state, with the exception of a few esoteric ones, such as ginger and sesame seed.
And to make this yoke all the more unbearable is the near-endless string of levies, on the roads and at the markets, taxing every grain taken to be sold by the already drained farmers.
There is the quick temptation to argue that the underpricing of the produce from Benue farms means a drop in food prices, and it should be hailed as a welcome development.
But this argument is faulty to the extent that, a drop in food prices could only be a positive economic development, if other essential commodities, including farm inputs such as insecticides, herbicides, fertilisers, and others also witness a drop in prices.
Rather than it being a positive economic indicator, the sole underpricing of farm produce in Benue State represents chains and handcuffs on Benue farmers, where the prices of other essentials of life keep going up.
Such a lopsided drop in prices of farm produce only impoverishes the farmers, rendering them unable to afford the basics of life.
This sort of economic imbalance is only possible where the farmers are left at the mercy of exploitative merchants, without the necessary protective shield of governmental price regime intervention.
A government that taxes farmers must concomitantly protect the same farmers by ensuring they are not exploited by merchants and businessmen, who are naturally inclined to make as much profit as they can.
I have since passed the message to Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN, and from his very positive response to it, it is my conviction that he will act to protect Benue farmers when he becomes Governor of the state, on May 29, 2027.
May God Almighty grant the prayers of Benue farmers. Amen!
Chief Bemgba Iortyom, Esq., | PDP Candidate for Mata State Constituency – 2027 | Writes from Atekombo, Mbagba, Ushongo LGA, Benue State | 24/05/2026.