Nigeria: Sorghum prices defy harvest season, consumers weigh options

Sorghum prices in Jigawa State remain high despite the fact that it is harvest season, leaving consumers disturbed. At the grains market in Dutse, the state capital, traders and customers are surprised that the price remains high. Musa Muhammad, a local farmer, says “It is surprising. We expected prices to drop during the harvest season, but they’ve remained high.” For Jigawa’s sorghum farmers, the high price is a welcome respite because of the challenges they faced producing the crop. “We struggled to access fertiliser, and when we did, it was expensive,” explains Malam Mujittapha, a farmer from Gagarawa Local Government Area. The high prices are particularly burdensome for consumers, many of whom rely on sorghum as a staple food. “I’ve had to reduce my consumption of tuwo (sorghum meal) because it has become too expensive,” laments Malama Aisha Ibrahim, a mother of five, in Jigawar tsada, Dutse. Researcher and an Associate professor at the department of Agricultural extension, ...