Corn: The survival meal

• Abuja residents find ‘renewed hope’ in maize as food price hike bites harder From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja Another corn season has arrived but, for many workers and families in Abuja, the crop is no longer just a seasonal snack. It has become a survival meal. Residents battling soaring food prices are increasingly swapping plates of rice, beans and soup for roasted or boiled corn, often taken with groundnuts. For some, three cobs of corn and a handful of groundnuts may be all they can afford for lunch. With a reasonable plate of food now costing between N3,000 and N5,000 in some parts of Abuja, low-income earners say corn offers one of the few affordable ways to keep hunger at bay. For Madam Choma Okereke, the season has brought relief to her family, cutting both the cost and stress of preparing meals. She said the availability of corn has provided several affordable meal options, allowing her to reduce her dependence on rice, garri and fufu: “The coming of this season has really saved me a lot of stress and headache over what to cook with the limited resources available. With just N500, I can buy enough corn to prepare one of my local delicacies with a few cups of beans. I can even make moi moi with corn. “I have stopped eating garri and fufu. Now, I use corn flour because it is very cheap compared to other food items. Apart from roasting and boiling, corn is really helping ordinary people. I can cook corn and beans instead of cooking rice every day. “Sometimes, when I don’t want to cook, I simply boil corn and eat it with groundnuts. N500 worth of corn and N500 worth of groundnuts can feed me and my two children for the afternoon. The only challenge is that this season does not last all year. It comes and goes, so we are really enjoying it while it lasts. Thank God for this season.” Bola Muhammad said corn flour has become a major food option in his household after the rising cost and scarcity of staples forced many families to rethink what they eat: “This season is really taking a lot of stress off our bodies. There is no kind of food you cannot prepare with corn.” He explained that corn can be broken into smaller pieces, processed without grinding it completely and cooked like rice. It could also be prepared with beans, groundnuts and vegetables: “If you have N1,000, you can buy corn and groundnuts and your family will have something to eat.” He added that the abundance of vegetables during the rainy season further helped families cut food expenses, especially as fish and other sources of protein remained expensive: “The development is particularly useful during the school holidays when children tend to eat more. With N1,000, you buy corn and groundnuts and keep the children busy. Before you know it, it is night. You can also prepare corn flour with okra and other vegetables, and the day is gone.” Agnes Koko, a private school teacher living in Kubwa, said the corn season had offered some relief to families already suffocating under high food prices: “Many families have resorted to eating rice almost daily because preparing soup and swallow has become too expensive. Before the corn season, most families had been cooking rice continuously because it was one of the easiest foods to prepare. Cooking soup is not a child’s play. Corn, groundnuts now our snacksCORN seeks national peace policy to curb conflict, insecurityKaduna flood: NEMA begins distribution of relief materials to affected residents “But with this corn and groundnuts season, it is a blessing and relief to many families. Considering the cost of food, corn is still preferable because it is fresh and healthier compared to some other foods.” John, a civil engineer living in Dutsen Alhaji, said he has become accustomed to buying one cob for N300, while on lucky days, he can get two for N500: “It has also saved some of us from spending huge amounts on lunch. Some days, I settle my family with less than N3,000 worth of corn. The children even prefer it to some other foods.” Friday Ogbe, a civil servant confessed: “I can’t stay a day without taking at least three cobs of corn. I have never taken my time to calculate what I am spending on corn alone daily. But sometimes, after eating corn, I end up not eating food again. It is expensive, but I don’t blame the sellers because the cost of everything has gone up.” The story is similar for Ifeanyi Eke, a body builder in Wuse: “Eating corn with coconut is sweet, but with groundnuts it is more delicious. It gives you an entirely different taste that makes you crave for more. I can eat corn for a whole day. “I have stopped going for other food for lunch since we entered the corn season. It has not been easy these days because a reasonable plate of food is between N3,000 and N5,000.” Happiness Usman, a Point-of-Sale (POS) operator, switching to corn has helped her protect her meagre income: “I normally eat at least twice every day. It was affecting my take-home because what I make is not much. But with the availability of corn, I don’t have issues again. It is cheaper than other types of food, though not as cheap as it used to be.” However, Ada lamented that even corn, once regarded as one of the cheapest foods available to ordinary Nigerians, was becoming increasingly expensive: “Despite its availability, the affordability of corn appears to be quite expensive this year, unlike previous years. A sizeable corn now goes for N200 and above.” While some consumers complain about the price, sellers insist they are also victims of the same economic pressure. Mercy Baba, a corn seller at NNPC Junction, Kubwa, said prices are largely determined by what sellers pay at the point of purchase: “We buy corn from Zuba. We sell according to how we buy it. Sometimes, it doesn’t have fixed prices. The price is based on availability in the market. “Corn is very expensive this year and with the large number of people selling it ,we don’t really make much profit from it. Sellers sometimes suffer losses after discovering that some of the cobs they buy have little or no seeds.” Tags:

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