Stew pots of some housewives in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, may henceforth be devoid of tomatoes and other condiments as cost skyrockets.
A number of the women who spoke on Sunday, said they had ditched tomatoes for their stews, pointing out that they had resorted to using garden egg plants and carrots for that purpose.
They said garden egg, called ganyen gauta in Hausa, igba in Yoruba and añara in Igbo, could blend very well with rice in the same manner as tomatoes.
Others said they were exploring pumpkin, pawpaw or such traditional soups as white soup and palm fruit soup popularly called banga soup in place of tomatoes stew.
Mrs Hauwa Ahmadu, a mother of five, said a week without rice with tomatoes stew was unfulfilling for her and the family.
She said rice with stew was a regular on their menu, adding that “there is an unexplainable satisfaction that comes with taking cooked rice and stew”.
The mother of five, however, said with the scarcity and high cost of tomatoes, her family was exploring garden egg stew.
Said she: “Since tomatoes became very expensive, we decided to use garden egg for stew and it is as sweet as tomato stew.
“The only major difference bewteen garden egg stew and tomatoes stew is the colour.
“We also use pumpkin stew with rice sometimes and although it has its unique taste, it blends well with rice”.
Mrs Hanatu Dung, a businesswoman, said although tomato was an important recipe for stew in almost all homes in Nigeria, its scarcity had made some Nigerians think of alternatives.
Stated she: “I went to the market yesterday to get some tomatoes for stew and a sizeable bushel, which costs between N2,000 and N2,500 was being sold for as much as N6,500.
“I did not bother to haggle the price because it was way beyond my budget”.
Mr. Chika Ben, an entrepreneur, revealed that he enjoyed taking rice with pepper-soup or white soup.
Said he: “The prices of all food stuff have gone up but that of tomatoes is outrageous probably because it is tomatoes off-season.
“Besides being expensive, it is very scarce and as a result we decided to explore other recipes”.
Hafiz Gana, a tomatoes retailer in one of the markets in the FCT, said he had stopped retailing tomatoes for some days due to low patronage, adding that customers were not patronising him because of the high cost.
Mrs. Aisha Kudu, a farm produce expert, said the major reason for scarcity of tomatoes was high cost of fertiliser.
She added that many tomato farmers did not grow it because they could not afford fertiliser, stating that fertiliser was critical to its growth.
Kudu also said reliance on seasonal farming was one of the reasons for the scarcity, adding that it was tomatoes off-season.
Said she: “Most farmers in Nigeria still do seasonal farming and that is contributing greatly to scarcity of farm produce particularly in their off-seasons”.
A sizeable basket of tomatoes which hitherto sold for about N10,000 now sells for about N35,000 while big baskets cost more.