Kano’s Largest Grains Market Denies Hoarding Allegations Amid Rising Food Prices

Kano’s largest grains market, the Dawanau International Grains Market, has recently disassociated itself from allegations of hoarding activities, which were said to cause artificial scarcity and skyrocketing prices of food products across the country.

The President of the Dawanau Market Development Association (DMDA), Alhaji Muttaka Isa, emphasized that they were wrongly accused for hoarding, and called on the public to disregard these allegations.

Isa explained that the grains dealers only purchase the foodstuff from growers in various parts of the country, store them in the market’s warehouses, and then sell them to their customers.

The market has an average daily turnover of N30 billion and serves as a major supplier of grains and other food items to customers in Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic, among other countries.

The President clarified that the various grains and other food items stored in the warehouses are only on transit; they must be stored first before they are sold to their customers.

The market also stocks crops such as Sobo, Sesame Seeds, hibiscus, Tamarind, and Soya beans, which are exported to Asia, Europe, and other global markets.

Dawanau International Grains Market supplies foodstuffs to governments and organizations like the Federal Government of Nigeria and the World Food Programme (WFP), which buys grains from the market and distributes them to IDP camps in Nigeria and elsewhere.