During a recent visit to the Zaare irrigation farms, farmers confronted the Deputy Agriculture Minister, John Dumelo, regarding the issue of rotten pepper and the lack of access to markets.
The farmers expressed their frustration, stating that market women purchase their pepper only two days a week, even though they harvest their crops daily for sale.
They highlighted that this limited access is a deliberate tactic by marketers to create scarcity in the city, allowing them to charge higher prices while causing significant losses for the farmers.
“They come only two weeks to buy our pepper, meanwhile frankly speaking we harvest every day, but they do that to cause scarcity in the city and cause rot or bad luck, and that is our headache.
“It is this market queens that are determining the price, durable to them, and that is the truth,” they stated.
The farmers lamented that due to the lack of market access, much of their pepper goes to waste, directly impacting their livelihoods and overall living conditions.
They explained that buyers purchase their pepper at prices that suit their own interests, disregarding the struggles and losses faced by the farmers.
Despite previous engagements with municipal executives regarding these issues, the farmers have received no solutions. They urged the Deputy Minister to take action to find effective resolutions to their pressing problems.
“So now we thank God that you are here,” they uttered.
Source: Vanessa Elizabeth Mkum
