A visit to the floors on Good Friday revealed that most farmers had managed to get their payments, though very late.
“It took some time to get our money,” said a farmer who had not managed to sell all her crop.
Another farmer who said she was from the Centenary area expressed her displeasure at the price she had sold her crop for.
“I can’t even say I sold anything. We are just giving them our crop because surely $2 for a kilogram is nothing,” she said. “These people have no idea how hard it is to grow this crop and to get only $2 after all our hard work is very difficult.”
She revealed that the previous week the crop had sold for $4.99 and it was hard to see the price drop so drastically.
The Boka floors were closed for the holiday and it was impossible to get any official confirmation of the price. However, an employee on the premises maintained that the price was still $4.99/kg.
“All farmers received their money before the onset of the holidays, those who are still here are those who did not sell their entire crop,” the employee said.
Analysts say the government made a mistake by saying farmers should be paid $5/kg, resulting in a drastic stall in sales because of liquidity problems.
Post published in: Agriculture