Senate Asks NEMA To Intervene In Ginger Farmers’ N10bn Loss

The Senate has decried the over N10 billion lost by ginger farmers in Southern Kaduna, Kaduna State and asked the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide them relief materials.

Also, the Senate mandated the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to move into Southern Kaduna and tackle the disease.

This followed a motion sponsored by Senator Sunday Marshall Katung (PDP Kaduna South) on the urgent need to address the outbreak of a deadly disease affecting ginger production in Southern Kaduna.

Katung said ginger has been grown in the southern part of Kaduna State since 1927 and it has steadily increased in its importance as a valuable commodity over the intervening years.

He said, “Further notes that Kaduna State ranks the highest in ginger production in Nigeria, contributing to Nigeria’s place as one of the largest producers of ginger in the world, with a production average of more than 300,000 tonnes during the five-year period 2014-2018, and a global market share of about 11 per cent, trailing only India.

“Cognisant that as a subset of the agricultural sector, ginger production has a significant impact on revenue generation and farmers’ income, thereby reducing the rate of poverty amongst the local farmers of southern Kaduna and the country at large.

“Also, cognizant that apart from its revenue generating potential, the consumption of ginger has many health benefits ranging from the prevention of stomach ulcers, the reduction of nausea and vomiting amongst pregnant women, to chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients.

“Worried that the 2023 ginger season in Southern Kaduna State has suffered a significant setback due to an outbreak of fungi pathogens infection destroying over 2,500 hectares of farmlands estimated at 10 Billion Naira across seven Local Government Areas of southern Kaduna State, thereby significantly threatening Nigeria’s position on the world chart of ginger production.

“Also worried that this devastating and unprecedented ginger pandemic affects Nigeria’s non-oil export performance and is already affecting the lives of many individuals within the affected communities of southern Kaduna because ginger is their source of livelihood,” he said.

The Senate mandated its Committee on Agricultural Production and Rural Development to interface with the hierarchy of the National Agricultural Quarantine Services and its supervisory Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security towards conducting an immediate on- the-spot assessment tour of all affected areas of the ginger pandemic in Southern Kaduna.

Also, the Senate called on the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to immediately coordinate surveillance systems to collect, analyse and interpret data on this disease, towards the prevention of further spread.

The motion was seconded by Senators Babangida Husaeini (Jigawa), Titus Zam (Benue North) and Kelvin Chukwu (Enugu East).

The Senate president Godswill Akpabio told all the agencies to look at the issues relating to the ginger disease in Southern Kaduna and tackle them.

“NEMA should move in there and provide relief materials,” Akpabio said.