Awka – Some food stuff sellers at Ose Okwodu market in Onitsha North, Anambra State, say people should not blame them for the regular hike in food prices.
The traders made the assertion during an interactive session with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), who visited the market on Thursday to identify factors contributing to the regular hike in food prices.
They identified insecurity, high cost of transportation due to fuel subsidy removal, climate change and inadequate attention to agriculture, as some of the major factors sparking high prices of food items in the country.
Mr Cyprian Onyejekwe, Secretary, Ose Okwodu Traders’ Union, said farmers who were the primary producers of food supply were scared to go to their farms due to insecurity.
“The safety of farmers who are the primary suppliers of food, is no longer guaranteed in this country. They are either kidnapped, killed or their farms destroyed by cattle rustlers.
“Even the traders who go to buy from the farms are usually attacked on the road and even pay over N1 million to settle ‘touts’ along the way. This is really affecting farming and food supply.
“Usually we spend about N 1 million to transport goods from farm to markets but now we spend more than N10 million to N15 million.
“Traders are not to blame for the hike in food prices. It is about law of supply and demand; and it is only government that can address this problems.
“If government can urgently address insecurity and strategise on mitigating the impact of the fuel subsidy removal, supply will increase and prices will decrease and stabilise,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Emmanuel Ndubuisi, Chairman,Grain seed Dealers said that droughts due to climate change destroyed and decreased farming output, especially grains in 2023.
Ndubuisi said that Niger and Borno states which were major producers of grains could not produce enough to feed the nation.
“After last year’s planting season, the rate of growth drought damaged the crops which resulted in low harvest.
“Before now, lorry loads of grains are offloaded three times every week but due to scarcity, we offload once a week and it affected the cost of grains.
“A 100kg of beans rose from N10,000 to N220,000 and N260,000, a bag of maize rose from N45,000 to N120,000, groundnut rose from N90,000 to N189,000 and a bag of bambara nut now sells for N240,000,” he said.
Other dealers in tomatoes, pepper, onions, fish, potatoes, yam and other food items urged the federal government to increase budgetary allocation to agricultural sector.
Addressing journalists, Mr Jude Akonam, Zonal Coordinator, FCCPC, Southeast, said the market survey showed government’s willingness to address hike in food prices and ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians.
“Ose market is popularly known as food hub because most consumable from across the nation is being offloaded here and from here they are distributed across the states.
“We have interacted with the market leaders and traders to find out the reason for price instability of food stuff and the solutions they have proffered will help government take necessary steps to address the problems.
“People cannot plan and buy in bulk anymore due to spiral change in prices of food and FCCPC has a mandate to protect Nigerian consumers,” he said.
