{"id":16087,"date":"2016-05-31T04:26:11","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T04:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?p=16087"},"modified":"2016-10-29T12:25:53","modified_gmt":"2016-10-29T12:25:53","slug":"tomato-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/tomato-crisis","title":{"rendered":"An Insect Is Plaguing Nigeria&#8217;s Tomato Crops\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a6b39195b99473d6c9dd698db2668010\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:2px 0 2px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<center>\r\n\r\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\r\nfunction ShorterThan(widthMax) {\r\n                if (screen.width < widthMax) {return true;}  \r\n                else {return false}\r\n    }\r\nvar LimitWidth = 728\r\nvar MobileZoneID = 348996\r\nvar DesktopZoneID = 348995   \r\n<!--\/\/<![CDATA[\r\n   document.MAX_ct0 ='';\r\n   var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?':'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?');\r\n   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);\r\n   document.write (\"<scr\"+\"ipt type='text\/javascript' src='\"+m3_u);\r\n   if (ShorterThan(LimitWidth)) {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+MobileZoneID);} else {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+DesktopZoneID);}\r\n   document.write(\"&nodis=1\");\r\n   document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r);\r\n   if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write (\"&exclude=\" + document.MAX_used);\r\n   document.write (document.charset ? '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? '&charset='+document.characterSet : ''));\r\n   document.write (\"&loc=\" + escape(window.location));\r\n   if (document.referrer) document.write (\"&referer=\" + escape(document.referrer));\r\n   if (document.context) document.write (\"&context=\" + escape(document.context));\r\n   if ((typeof(document.MAX_ct0) != 'undefined') && (document.MAX_ct0.substring(0,4) == 'http')) {\r\n       document.write (\"&ct0=\" + escape(document.MAX_ct0));\r\n   }\r\n   if (document.mmm_fo) document.write (\"&mmm_fo=1\");\r\n   document.write (\"'><\/scr\"+\"ipt>\");\r\n\/\/]]>--><\/script>\r\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n<p>Tomatoes are a staple ingredient in Nigerian cuisine. The nation is Africa\u2019s second largest producer of the fruit. Tomatoes are a necessity in traditional dishes like jollof rice. Unfortunately, a crisis has been destroying Nigeria\u2019s tomatoes. An insect, nicknamed \u201cTomato Ebola\u201d by local farmers, is plaguing the country\u2019s crops. This crisis has caused prices to rise dramatically. The situation is getting so serious that the government has declared a state of emergency.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A dangerous foe<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The cause of the so-called \u201cTomato Ebola\u201d is a moth. The Tuta absoluta, more often called the tomato leafminer and South American tomato moth, attacks the leaves of the tomato plants. Its larvae consume\u00a0the fruit and stalks. What makes this insect a dangerous foe is that pesticides are ineffective &#8211; the larvae have developed resistance towards older pesticides and are able to come back to life within three hours. The moth can cause a yield loss of 100%. The Tuta absoluta was first identified in South America. It then spread to Spain and continued to disperse throughout Europe until it infiltrated the Middle East. It went on to plague Egypt, South Sudan, Senegal, and was first spotted in Nigeria this year.While tomatoes are their main host, they have the potential to affect certain crops in the nightshade family. This includes\u00a0potatoes, eggplants, and tobacco. <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16090\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16090\" style=\"width: 718px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-16090\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/mold_on_tomatoes_proxy.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"718\" height=\"478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/mold_on_tomatoes_proxy.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/mold_on_tomatoes_proxy-85x57.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 718px) 100vw, 718px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16090\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.newsgram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Mold_on_tomatoes_proxy.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>A serious problem<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Kaduna State region alone has lost millions of dollars due to the crisis. More than 80% of tomato farms in the state have been destroyed. The area is a major hub for the surrounding agricultural areas and is important for Nigeria\u2019s overall production. At local markets, prices have risen to around $2 per fruit and $212 per basket. A $200-million tomato processing factory created by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has been forced to shut down due to lack of supply. The country is already dealing with a fuel shortage and inflation; this just adds to the economic stress. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;It is a serious problem. The disease has affected production and consumption, prices are continuing to rise and there is no availability,&#8221; Shehu Sani, Senator for Kaduna Central, said. \u00a0&#8220;Many depend on tomato farming for their livelihood and tomatoes are an indispensable part of the diet. People cannot do without them.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16091\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16091\" style=\"width: 712px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-16091\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/tomato-market.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"712\" height=\"474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/tomato-market.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/tomato-market-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/tomato-market-85x57.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 712px) 100vw, 712px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16091\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.dailypost.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/tomato-market.png\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>People are panicking<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even those who can afford the new prices are avoiding tomatoes. Nigerian housewife Eucharia Azubuike said that the ones that are available are practically useless for cooking:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong> &#8220;The one you can get for N500 is unripe and so small that it can only be used with pepper and tatashe to cook jollof but not stew,\u201d she said.<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Others are uncertain which tomatoes are safe to eat:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;People are panicking, because attaching that name [Tomato Ebola] to a staple food has worsened the situation,&#8221; Sani said. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16092\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16092\" style=\"width: 702px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-16092\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/jollof_rice_with_fried_fish_and_fried_plantain.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"702\" height=\"462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/jollof_rice_with_fried_fish_and_fried_plantain.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/jollof_rice_with_fried_fish_and_fried_plantain-600x395.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/jollof_rice_with_fried_fish_and_fried_plantain-85x56.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16092\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/b\/b7\/Jollof_rice_with_fried_fish_and_fried_plantain.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Fighting back<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Help is needed to fight back against the moth.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;We need assistance from the central federal government to prevent the disease from spreading further and maybe even to other countries,\u201d says Sani.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Experts have already been sent to Kenya to work on a strategy. Newer pesticides were shown to be effective in containing the moth in Europe.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16093\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16093\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16093\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/tomaten_tomatoes_pomodori.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/tomaten_tomatoes_pomodori.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/tomaten_tomatoes_pomodori-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/05\/tomaten_tomatoes_pomodori-85x64.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16093\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/b\/b7\/Jollof_rice_with_fried_fish_and_fried_plantain.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/food-bloggers\">SEE ALSO: 10 African Food Bloggers You Should All Follow.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tomatoes are a staple ingredient in Nigerian cuisine. The nation is Africa\u2019s second largest producer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":16091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27,111],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>An Insect Is Plaguing Nigeria&#039;s Tomato Crops\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tomatoes are a necessity in traditional dishes like jollof rice.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/tomato-crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Insect Is Plaguing Nigeria&#039;s Tomato Crops\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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