By Kemi Akinseye
Fertiliser producers in Nigeria have alerted farmers over the possible hike in price of fertilisers due to the prolonged Middle East crisis, potentially increasing production costs for farmers and affecting food output across the country.
The farmers who expressed their full preparedness for the upcoming planting season may be faced with the realities of possible high in the cost of farming this year.
However, President of the Fertilisers Producers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Kassim, recently told PUNCH that manufacturers had already made production plans before the conflict began and were currently well-stocked with raw materials needed for fertiliser production.
According to him, “What are fertilizer producers doing? So we are getting ready, not only because there is a war, but because the season is about to begin.” He said
He added that most members of the association had secured the necessary inputs to sustain production.
Most of my members have got raw material to process. Most of my members. And recently, when this war started, the government reached out to us to ask us, look, what is the situation in terms of stock in the country? And what should we expect? Are we expecting some scarcity? I look at it. No. The reason is simple. Urea is sourced locally. That’s the nitrogen from Nigeria. Even if it is not.” he stated.
Kassim, however, acknowledged that global market disruptions were already influencing fertiliser prices.
“Because there is a global crisis, prices have been affected. So to that extent, that will affect fertilizer prices,” he said.
He noted that fertiliser producers had assured the government of their readiness to meet demand during the planting season. “So they asked us, what is going to happen? We said we are ready.
“We’ve already planned for the season. We have made all our investment plans. We’ve made our production decisions. So it’s not going to affect us anyhow, but what we are afraid of is, one, if the war continues to be prolonged, it means when the season commences, fertilizer prices will just keep going up and up and up.”
Kassim however warned that rising fertiliser prices could worsen the challenges already facing farmers. “Now, that is going to affect farmers. So with all the issues of farming as it is today, now you add that increase in cost of inputs, or maybe let’s say increase in cost of fertilizer. How will that affect production? Will farmers be able to buy? We are ready to produce, and our plans for production predate the beginning of the war.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Government says it has set up a committee to assess the impact of the Middle East crisis on the country’s agricultural sector and recommend measures to cushion its effects.
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, said the committee is chaired by the Vice President and includes the Minister of Agriculture. “There is a committee headed by Mr Vice President to look into how to cushion the effect of this crisis in the Middle East,” he said.
Providing further insight, Ikemefuna added, “What did you say? I have set up a committee headed by Mr. Vice President to look into how to cushion the effect of this crisis in the Middle East, of which the Agriculture minister is a member. I don’t have the details of the meeting, but I think very soon they will come up with some measures.”
He noted that the committee was still working out possible interventions. “I think they are still at the committee level, trying to see what measures to take on how to mitigate the effect of the crisis.”
