The Lagos State Catfish Allied Farmers Association of Nigeria (LASCAFAN) has decried poor pricing of their produce by marketers and middlemen.
The LASCAFAN Chairman, Mr Olatoye Fajimi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
He said the major problem of fish farmers was poor profit margin due to the poor pricing by middlemen in the sector.
“The major challenge that fish farmers are facing right now is the pricing of fish against the rising cost of production. The cost of production is on the increase but currently the selling price is low in comparison. This is because most times the price of our produce is being dictated majorly by the middlemen and marketers, and this is not making the business profitable for farmers. Not having the privilege of determining our selling price is the major challenge that we have as fish farmers,” Fajimi said.
He also disclosed that the farmers’ associations have met with the Lagos State Government to resolve the issue.
“We presented this issue to the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems about two months ago when we met the commissioner. And we were assured that they are trying to come up with an off-taking arrangement whereby the fish farmers will sign a Memorandum of Understanding before production starts to know the specific quantity the farmers are producing.
“With this arrangement, Lagos State can buy off the farmers directly at a profitable rate, but we don’t know when this arrangement will commence, but it is still in the pipeline. Fish farmers also want to break even in the light of the current economic realities, we want the price of the produce to reflect the cost of production. Ideally in business, the selling price should take care of the cost of production and add some profit margin to the producer, which is an arrangement that is understandable between the producer and the seller.
“But this time around, the buyers will just come and say, this is how much they want to buy. You know, the current buying system exploits the farmers and leaves them little or nothing,” he said.
The LASCAFAN chairman also noted that the issue had made it difficult for fish farmers to borrow loans from financial institutions due to their inability to pay back.
“That’s a major challenge and it also affects our financing. Financial organisations usually don’t want to finance agriculture, especially fish farming because of that pricing issue. When we approach banks for loans, they refuse because most of the farmers that they financed in the past were not able to repay because the business wasn’t profitable due to the fact that they are not in control of the selling price.
“The cost of production, cost of buying feed, and the cost of buying fuel is not also in the control of the farmer. So, when that goes up, it is added to the cost of operation and also impacts on the selling price but currently, it’s not so. It’s a major challenge that we are trying to resolve sincerely. We hope that in the short while, we will be able to resolve that with that buy-back arrangement that the Lagos State Government is working on,” he said.
(NAN)
