…FCT, Kogi Record Highest Price Increase In Tomatoes, Beans
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that the prices of staple foods such as beans, tomatoes, and yams have surged by over 250 per cent within twelve months from June 2023 to June 2024.
The NBS Selected Food Prices See report for June 2024 depicted the dire predicament of citizens. The average price of 1kg of brown beans skyrocketed by 252.13 per cent, from N651.12 in June 2023 to N2,292.76 in June 2024.
Tomatoes saw an even steeper increase of 320.67 per cent, with prices rising from N547.28 to N2,302.26 per kg.
Other staples were not spared from this inflationary trend. The price of Irish potatoes jumped by 288.50 per cent, white garri by 181.66 per cent, and yam tuber by a staggering 295.79 per cent.
The report also highlighted significant regional disparities. Kogi State recorded the highest price for brown beans at N3,006.43 per kg, while the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) saw tomato prices peak at N3,992.61 per kg.
The hike in food prices has been attributed to various factors, including the removal of fuel subsidy payments announced by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, which led to increased transportation costs across the country.
In 2023, Nigeria was included among the global “hunger hotspots” by the World Food Programme, a development linked to rising insecurity in agricultural regions and soaring costs of essential farming inputs.
A Lagos-based consultancy, SBM Intelligence, reported recently that 1,356 farmers have lost their lives since 2020, with 137 fatalities recorded in 2024 alone.
In response to the nation’s food crisis, the Federal Government announced a 150-day duty-free import window for maize, cowpeas, wheat, and husked brown rice in July.
NewsNGR sought opinions from two experts on the crisis and potential solutions. Both stressed the need for a multi-faceted approach to address the country’s food crisis, including enhancing security measures to protect farmers, reviewing agricultural policies, investing in transportation infrastructure, promoting agricultural mechanization, and implementing targeted interventions that reach actual farmers.
Dr. Muda Yusuf, CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE), identified several key factors contributing to food inflation in an exclusive interview with THE WHISTLER.
“Insecurity is the major and primary factor. If people cannot farm, how will food be produced? Majority of the farmers are small-scale farmers, and if they are having challenges accessing their farms across the country, then we can’t control food inflation,” he said.
Yusuf also pointed to high transportation costs, exchange rate volatility, and the lack of agricultural modernization as significant contributors to the crisis.
“Most of these farmers are in rural areas and the cost to transport their farm produce from the farm to the market, the city centres, and urban areas are very exorbitant. The federal government needs to address this issue by reviving our refineries, in turn reducing the cost of diesel, PMS and the like.”
The CPPE boss added, “The exchange rate will continue to hinder the cost of food. Some components of food are related to the exchange rate, foods as bread, noodles, and oil amongst others. Because of the weak currency used for this intermediate product, the raw materials have become very expensive.
“Take wheat that is used for flour and flour processed into noodles and bread. The issue is not different with sugar. These products are very basic in food and also have foreign implications and vice versa.
“Again, related to foreign exchange is the fact that CFA, which is the currency of all the countries around us, has gained a lot of strength. So it is cheaper now, for countries like Benin Republic, Niger Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Cameroon to buy our farm produce, even the limited ones that are produced.
“So if individuals or the food merchant finds it more attractive to sell this food across the border, this will continue to contribute to the shortage in food supply across the country. We can’t compete with them anymore because they have a stronger currency.
According to him, the issue of proper mechanization and use of technology in agriculture “will continue to hinder food supply and security” because “Unlike many other sectors, where technology has been adopted to increase productivity, we haven’t done much here in agriculture, and yet the population is increasing by the day.”
Ayodele Farinde, a greenhouse and organic agriculture expert, mentioned additional challenges in a separate interview with THE WHISTLER.
“We are not into production which is affecting our economy. About 90 per cent of what we use in Nigeria is imported,” Farinde stated, criticizing the government’s ban on certain fertilizer imports, noting that it has hindered urban farming.
“Most of the fertilizers we use for Urban Farming are what we call water-soluble Fertilizers and none is being produced in Nigeria,” Farinde explained.
“What we produce in the country is granular fertilizer, such as NPK. Yet our government has banned the importation of fertilizers on the grounds that we produce fertilizers in the country and these fertilizers are not even suitable for some crops, especially in urban farming.”