KAFANCHAN – Traders in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, said on Wednesday that they were recording low sales and dwindling patronage.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area, that the business lull could be attributed to economic downturn and the rainy season.
Some of the traders said that most of their customers in the area were civil servants and peasant farmers who depended largely on monthly salaries and their farm produce.
Mr Lamai Zaka, a trader at the Yakowa market in Kafanchan, said the market was scanty, adding that the development indicated that customers had already spent their salaries.
“The only period one witnesses impressive patronage is when workers are paid salaries.
“The situation is compounded as the farming season is known to slow down business activities,” he said.
Malam Ibrahim Anche, a butcher at the Kafanchan market, said the decline in patronage had affected their business, noting that only three cows were slaughtered daily compared to more than five recorded when business boomed.
“Except for a restaurant operator who bought four kilogrammes earlier, I have not sold up to 10 kilogrammes of beef since morning,” he said.
Mrs Helen Nawa, who sells perishables items at the Yakowa market, lamented that she might run at a loss if her tomatoes stayed for another day.
She explained that the farming season had affected the normal supply of fresh tomatoes in the market thereby making it more expensive.
“A small container of tomatoes that sold for N200 is now N400 and as such people preferred tin tomatoes,” she said.
A trader on beverages, Malam Nura Sidi, said he had not recorded much turnover in the past two days and blamed the poor patronage to the country’s economic downturn.
“It is only when people have enough money that they can afford beverages, otherwise they supplement breakfast with available or left over food,” he said.
The fruit section in Kafanchan market also witnessed poor patronage as traders were sighted discussing political and sports matters. (NAN)
