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6 分钟阅读 Prices climb as demand outstrips supply
KADUNA, Nigeria, June 2 (Reuters) - In a flowing cream hijab, Karima M. Imam walks through her fields in scrubland in northern Nigeria as workers harvest a gnarled brown root that has turned gold since COVID struck: ginger.
“If I had the capital, I’d plant more. People are looking for ginger now, and there is not enough,” she said at her five hectare farm on the outskirts of Kaduna.
As the pandemic rages, people around the world have sought to guard against illness by turning to so-called halo foods. While scientists have dismissed many claims on social media about how superfoods can fend off the virus, their positive role as part of a healthy diet is widely acknowledged.
Increasingly health conscious consumers have given an already buoyant global spice market a further boost during the pandemic, heightening investor interest in the sector.
A pandemic-induced increase in the global demand for ginger has seen the price of the spice surge from N4,000 for a 50kg bag to N15,000, an increase of nearly 400% within two years, benefitting both growers and exporters in the country.
In a report by Reuters on Tuesday, ginger farmers in Kaduna revealed that demand far outweighs supply, which is a boost for local production.
“If I had the capital, I’d plant more. People are looking for ginger now, and there is not enough,” Karima M. Imam said.
Another ginger producer, Hebile Abu revealed that demand is so high, that buyers are willing to pay any price in tonnes, and can’t even get enough.