“We have spent over 50 years here in Barakallahu. Our people laid the foundation for many of the mango farms around Baraakallahu by planting mango trees all over the area
Alhaji Abubakar Saleh is a dealer supplying Mango to the retailers at the Barakallahu Mango Market in Kaduna. He has been in the trade for 30 years and has been a witness to the rise and decline of the trade in the state.
“I buy mango from various mango farms within and outside Kaduna State and I am engage in the transfer of mango from farms to other states in the country and even outside the country to places like Niger Republic, Libya and other West African countries,” he said.
Saleh said that a good number of the fruit are wasted due to negligence from government, investors and farmers because there are no concrete steps taken to improve or develop the trees, storage facilities and the fruits for commercial or business purposes.
“We have species of mango that don’t perish easily here in Kaduna. It is not found in every farm but many farmers are growing it. The variety lasts between 20 days to one month. Popularly known as ‘King’ or ‘Mai siminti’ which is now available in the farm and markets.
The fact that some species of the fruit perish easily has been blamed by Saleh for the neglect they suffer as the fruits of those trees are disregarded by farmers, causing the fruits to fall and rot at the foot of the trees.
One of the solutions to curb wastage of the fruit is to set up processing plants in the state. Saleh explains why that hasn’t happened.
“I know of many people who intended to setup mango factories but issues of bandits and kidnappers have forced them to abandon the idea,” he said. “Many people among the owners of these mango farms have the intention of setting up mango factories but the insecurity has prevented them from realizing their dreams.”
He said for long farmers have been unable to access their farms as a result of the security situation and dealers like himself who have taken risks to visit some of these farms have felt unsafe.
“Not long ago, we went inside the bush to buy an entire mango farm but to our surprise, we saw a team of seven people (bandits) carrying AK-47s moving around the farm, which compelled us to
abandon the transaction and the farmer lost the business and quickly left the area for our safety,” he said.
He said farmers and dealers in some cases have to hire security personnel to escort them during their transactions.
For Hajiya Halima Lawal Baza, a 67-year-old mango trader at Barakallahu, more than three quatres of her life have been spent in the mango trade. She remembered Barakallahu before the mango trees took over.
“We have spent over 50 years here in Barakallahu. Our people laid the foundation for many of the mango farms around Baraakallahu by planting mango trees all over the area,” she said. “Majority of these mango farms were established 50 years ago and since then our family and others around here have been into mango farming and trading.”
Hajiya Halima also acknowledged that the security situation is affecting the growth of the industry saying now they are have resorted only to hope.
“We hope to have more people who will start processing the commodity for the development of the business and society in general. We pray for the restoration of lasting peace in the state and the country,” she said.
She suggests that perhaps if government could make soft loans available to farmers, they might have the courage to venture into fruit processing.
Abigail Aminu, 37, has been in the trade for 11 years. She said the margin of profit is dependent on the season. During peak mango season for instance, where a basket of the fruit is sold for N5,000, double at other times, eating into their profit margin.
According to her, many traders selling the fruit along NDC area along KadunaKano expressway, depend on the mango trade to put their children through