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Olugbemi. Adeyinka Ogunleye
1 month ago
Overview
Farmers Lament Drop In Food Prices Amid FG’s Moves To Reduce Inflation
The prices of major staple foods, including maize, millet and rice, have continued to decline in recent weeks. This development has sparked concerns among stakeholders and actors in the agric value chain, especially farmers who fear that the continued decline in the prices of farm produce could discourage many from remaining in the business. In recent years, Nigeria had seen an increase in the number of people taking up farming, especially following the border closure policy which was introduced by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
With high prices of food commodities in the last few years, many farmers had made fortunes, making farming an attractive enterprise. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, food inflation recorded a marginal drop in December 2024, coming down to 39.84 per cent crom 39.93 per cent recorded in November. In the NBS rebased index released recently, food inflation “dropped” to 26.08 per cent in January. Alhaji Bala Musa Sara, a merchant and Chief of Sara grains market in Gwaram Local Government Area of Jigawa State, disclosed that while price fluctuation could be of natural cause, the one currently experienced could be attributed to some factors.
He said, “The drop in prices of food items is not only in this market; it is virtually across the country especially in areas that deal in grains. “A jumbo bag of sorghum which would go for about N80,000 is now sold at N60,000 or so. A jumbo bag of paddy rice which was sold at N75,000 now goes for between N62,000 and N67,000, depending on the variety and quality. A jumbo measure of rice which was N4,000 is now between N3,200 and N3,500. A jumbo bag of parboiled rice containing 40 jumbo measures now goes for between N132,000 and N140,000 as against N160,000 or thereabout. But you know our measures and bags are of jumbo sizes here. The price also depends on the quality of the grains.”
Alhaji Musa said while it was difficult to tell the factors responsible for the trend, he hinted that withdrawal of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) aid to Nigeria could contribute to the glut in the market as there were huge purchases of grains for distribution to internally displaced persons in conflict-ravaged regions by the agency. “First, we must acknowledge that it is from God. But what people are saying is that the withdrawal of USAID could be one of the reasons behind this sharp decrease in prices of essential food items. There used to be huge purchases of rice and other food items here which were transported and distributed to internally displaced persons in conflict-ravaged areas. They used to come here and buy like 1,000 bags of rice, but it has stopped now. But by and large, this is a phenomenon that affects different places, not only here.”
More: https://dailytrust.com/farmers-lament-drop-in-food-prices-amid-fgs-move-to-reduce-inflation/
