Stakeholders in South-South decry high cost of food

Some farmers and food sellers in the South-South region have expressed concerns over the high cost of food, irrespective of the harvest season.

The stakeholders, who responded to a newsmen survey in Akwa Ibom, Rivers, and Cross Rivers, said that a remarkable fall in food prices was witnessed during the previous harvest season.

The stakeholders maintained that only a few food items recorded very insignificant price drops during the current season.

Speaking in Port Harcourt, Rivers, Mrs. Benedicta Amadi, a food seller, said that the impact of the harvest season was not felt by consumers due to the high cost of transportation.

Amadi said that a greater percentage of her business profit was currently being factored into transportation costs, which had led to increased costs.

She explained that during the 2023 harvest season, a sizable tuber of yam was sold for N800, while currently, the same size is being sold for between N4,000 and N6,000.

‘’Perishable items such as tomatoes, onionsand pepper recorded an incomparable price disparity between 2023 and 2024 harvest season.

‘’A basket of pepper, which was sold between N1,500 and N3,000 in 2023, is now sold at almost N16,000. It is the same with tomatoes, onionsand others,” she said.

Amadi said that the prices of rice, beans and corn might drop during the dry season in some parts of the country, saying, ” this might not be felt in Rivers if the current transportation situation persists.”

She urged the Federal Government to be proactive towards implementing its palliative measures in the transportation sector, saying that such measures will impact food prices positively.

Similarly, Mr Godwin Akandu, a cassava farmer, noted that currently, only an insignificant fall in the prices of ‘garri’ and vegetables had been recorded when compared to their costs a few months ago

He attributed the price difference to the premature harvest of cassava and vegetables, a measure adopted by farmers to reduce loss in the event of flood disaster.

”Garri, a cassava by-product and staple food for households in the state, has recorded a huge price gap between the 2023 and 2024 harvest seasons.

”A basin of garri sold for N7,000 in 2023 now sells for between N16,000 and N18,000, since both the production and transportation processes are dependent on petrol,” he added.

Akandu who is the President, Etche Farmers Cooperative Union, urged the state government to urgently key into the Federal Government agricultural programme to enhance food availability in the state.

He urged the state government to invest in mechanized agriculture through collaborative engagements with local farmers as being done in other states to overcome the challenge of high food prices.

In his contribution, Mr Christopher Tamuno, Programme Manager, Agricultural Development Program (ADP), disclosed that the state would soon benefit from agro-imputs distribution from the Federal Government.

He explained that the distribution which was delayed by the nationwide protest, was part of Federal Government’s agricultural palliative expected to boost food production.

Tamuno, however, assured of ADP’s readiness to further enhance agriculture through the training and re-training farmers in the state.

In Akwa Ibom, Mrs Happiness Oboh, a foodstuff seller at Udua Nka Market in Eket, said that the change in price of foodstuff during the current harvest season was insignificant.

She said that there were very insignificant drops in the cost of commodities, especially farm priduce.

“A bag of garri which sold for N120,000 in May, now sells for N105,000, but a tuber of yam which sold for N10,000 in May currently sells for N16,000,” she said.

Oboh added that a bag of beans between February and March was sold for N55,000, but that currently it is being sold for between N80,000 and N250,000.

She said that a bag of rice was currently sold for between N80,000 and N85,000, as opposed to N50,000, which was the cost in January.

She said that multiple market unions were a contributing factor to the current price increase.

Speaking also, Mr Bassey Inwang, the Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Akwa Ibom Chapter, listed high cost of fuel, herders menace and inadequate farmland as part of the factors causing high cost of food.

Inwang outlined the parameters the government should put in place in order to ensure food availability and sufficiency for the people.

He said that timely distribution of farm inputs, grants and loans to farmers would enhance early cultivation because agriculture remained time bound activity

“Others include availability of farmland to farmers to cultivate, checking the government policy in disbursing loan to farmers and availability of modern machines,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria should endeavour to embrace mechanised farming to ensure greater harvests

Inwang, who included insecurity as one of the causes of food insufficiency, stated that fear of being killed or injured had led many to abandon farming.

He further stated that the activities of herdsmen had negatively affected farming in the state, citing the story of a woman whose two-hectare cassava farm along Airport Road was destroyed by cows.

Inwang also emphasised the importance of food storage facilities, especially for perishable food items such as tomatoes, vegetables, and fruits, assuring that food prices would soon drop due to the approaching harvest season.

In Cross River, A trader, Mr Mubarak Ibrahim, who operates at the popular Bogobiri Area, close to Watt Market in Calabar, stated that there was a minimal decrease in the cost of some foodstuff.

The trader, who deals in staple foods such as rice, beans, and others, said that a 50-kg bag of local rice was being sold for N85,000, as against N88,000 in July.

Ibrahim added that a 100-kg bag of white bean was currently sold between N190,000 and N195,000, as opposed to the N210,000 it sold a month ago.

The price of brown beans remained at N220,000 for a 100-kg bag, and that of white maize dropped from N120,000 to N90,000, while yellow maize is still at N120,000 for a 50-kg bag,” he said.

Similarly, Mr. Ibrahim Samsudeen, a dealer in tomatoes, said that the cost of Nigerian tomatoes was still high when compared to that of Cameroonian tomatoes.

Samsudeen explained that a basket of Cameroonian tomatoes, which was sold for N28,000 in July, is now sold for N24,000.

He said that there was a remarkable reduction in the price of pepper, as a 50-kg bag of pepper, which sold for about N200,000, had dropped to between N90,000 and N100,000.

Speaking on the matter, Mr. Johnson Ebokpo, Cross River Commissioner for Agriculture and Irrigation Development,said the state government had procured 108 medium tractors to be distributed to cooperative societies across the state.

He said that cultivation of 50,000 hectares of rice in Ogoja had commenced, and that 90 hectares of cassava was also being cultivated in 10 communities across the state.

The commissioner said that the farms were being cultivated under the jointly funded Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise Project for Niger Delta programme.

Ebokpo said that with the ongoing policy implementations, food production in the state would be quadrupled by the 2025 harvest season.