At a time when countries /companies are making serious efforts to cut back on expenses, re invest in local economies and boost local employment, "buying local " , it seems like always in Nigeria, the opposite effect is taking place.
Zamani Farms in Jos, have been around for a number of years, they provide employment for a lot of people, deliver fruits and vegetables direct to your door in Abuja upon request once a week, and like any organized establishment these days they send weekly updates via email to customers just to let them know what's happening on the farm etc you start to get a personal connection.
We'll this week, we hear that Transcorp hilton Abuja who they have been supplying for over a decade, have suddenly changed their policy and now want to import their fruits and vegetables from Germany.
Read this section of the email update from Norma at Zamani:
"We had another setback recently when we were informed that the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, where we have been delivering vegetables for about 10 years, have decided to import all of their herbs and many vegetables from Germany rather than getting them from local suppliers! With policies like this, condoned by government, it will be impossible for small producers in Nigeria to develop agricultural, or indeed any kind of, production. Or maybe it is just that we are following the wrong business plan. Maybe we should focus instead on exporting our herbs to Europe, so that they can then be re-imported back to Nigeria at five times the price. Whatever has happened to the concerns for carbon footprint, environmental impact and the "locavore" movement (sourcing food ingredients as locally as possible) that is gaining ground all over the world, except, evidently, in Nigeria? It looks like we are moving backward rather than forward."
I just find these kinds of developments depressing, politicians, government officials, businessmen , expatriates all sorts of people patronize the Hilton, it is still one of the main hotels in Abuja.
Why support this hotel if suddenly they are at the forefront of reversing development in the same country that is providing you with these huge profits.
When do we stop as a nation and start to consider these little everyday actions that further push us backwards.
Transcorp Hilton may have their reasons and honestly they are free to respond...
I have no shares in Zamani and frankly wouldn't care where Transcorp Hilton decided to source their products, for me the point is MAKE IT LOCAL!
The Hilton is not everyone's cup of tea and frankly in Nigeria you would have to be of a certain financial class to even be seen there but this is exactly the problem, Just like looting the country's wealth and then stashing it overseas, developing someplace else, running outside the country for any medical assistance when in the 1st instance you could have developed your own at home.
This policy is wrong! And I would advise anyone (especially government) to avoid supporting this organization until they at least rethink this detrimental new policy.
P
