Scarcity of Eru & Snails in SW Markets Due to
Insecurity
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| Eru may soon disappear on our tables |
One of Cameroon’s celebrated vegetable and source of
protein, Eru and snails that have gained local and international consumption is
fast disappearing from the market as insecurity continues to threaten movements,
farming and businesses in the North West and South West Regions.
The
National Times conducted a two months survey across villages and markets to
weigh the effect of the Crisis on the availability of snails and eru on the
local market.
Scarcity
of snails and eru on the market has been squarely attributed to rising
insecurity. Food sellers and business persons fear the supply of both eru and
snails may face out of major markets in some cities, if the situation remains
out of control.
Comfort
Ayuk, a trader explained that eru harvesters in the forests of Upper Bayang,
Manyu Division are now refugees in Nigeria.
She said
“the few persons that use to muster the courage to go to the bush to harvest
the cherished vegetable are scared for fear of harassment from gunmen and
soldiers…. Even when I manage to buy a few bags of eru… the stress on the road
makes it difficult to sell and make profit… I am thinking of changing my line
of business,” Ayuk stated.
Our
source said her capital of over FCFA 500,000 has diminished to less than
100,000. “Women to whom I supplied eru are out of business. Some have simply
escaped and the times are frustrating.”
Jacquiline
Ngueyap on her part said she is in the worst period of her business life 10
years since she found a comfort zone trading in snails and eru.
Her
major routes have been the hinterlands of Mbonge and Konye. Today, Ngueyap is
barely surviving to surface at the market with 2 bags of eru and 10 buckets of
snail in the market.
“Before
now I will come to the market with about 50 buckets of snail a week. I buy eru
in tens of bags… sometimes I trade between Nigeria and Cameroon. I have
customers abroad who request for dry snails…all this has stopped because
villagers have all escaped. You know snails are picked from the farms at night,
but with this security threats… no one can go into the forest to harvest eru or
pick snails,” Ngueyap stated.
The
consequences are even at the level of roadside food vendors. At the Former
‘Holywood Hotel’ in the heart of Kumba, it is a busy evening but the popular
woman who sells eru and garri or water fufu is in a deep quarrel with customers
over the quantity of eru these days in their plates.
Mami
Agbor as she is fondly called described her predicament. “Have you been to the
market since this Crisis started to price a bundle of eru….please customers
should learn to understand the sacrifice we go through to sell this food. Every
day you keep explaining but … everyone wants a good quantity of eru in their
plates,” Agbor stated.
Mami Agbor
today no longer sells fufu and eru on a daily basis partly owing to the
scarcity of eru in the market. Yet she won’t comment on the known secret of
food vendors now using ‘bitter leaf’ to increase the quantity of eru.
This
practice comes with a drop in taste and quality. Most vendors do this to cut
cost and meet up with demand.
Peers of
Agbor commonly known as ‘Mami eru’ in cities such as Kumba are on the verge of
changing their menus owing to scarcity and cost.
For a
city like Kumba for instance, even its Government Delegate, Victor Nkelle Ngoh,
has declared in public meetings that a majority of city dwellers feed from
roadside restaurants commonly called “Mami Put” in the local pidgin parlance.
Besides
this, other items associated with the dish such as cow skin popularly known as
canda and beef are scarce. The limited quantity available in the market goes
for a fortune.
With
these current trends, lovers of eru and snails are being forced to adjust their
menus owing to the challenging times.
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