Nigerians groan over high cost of food

It wasn’t a market woman at Mile 12 or a struggling father in Ikorodu who said it. It was the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy himself. Speaking at Chatham House in London recently, Taiwo Oyedele, gave a number that showed the daily reality of millions of Nigerian households.   Some Nigerians, he said, now spend as much as 120 per cent of their income on food, forcing them to borrow money or rely on relatives to survive. The minister said a government survey showed that food expenses have exceeded the normal incomes of many households, leaving them in perpetual debt. Nigeria’s poverty rate, he stated, remains above 50 per cent despite an unemployment rate of about five per cent – a contradiction that pointed to the growing number of people who work but still cannot meet their basic needs.   Yisa   “In fact, there was a survey we did that showed that up to 120 per cent of household income is spent on food. Like, how do you spend 120 per cent of your income? You borrow money for food before the end of the month,” Oyedele said. “That tells you something. As a policymaker, you don’t sit back and say we don’t have unemployment. You have the working poor.” Oyedele attributed the pressure on households to high food prices, which he said were not falling as quickly as headline inflation. Food inflation, he noted, stood at 19.6 per cent in September. “Headline inflation is falling faster than the price of a basket of tomatoes, garri, and beans. And this widens inequality. Macroeconomic stability means little to a mother who still cannot afford food,” he stated. He said Nigeria has no taxes on fuel, arguing that the pressure on household budgets is linked to deeper structural problems rather than fuel taxes. He identified low agricultural yields, seasonal farming, post-harvest losses, poor storage and logistics, high transport costs and insecurity in farming communities as major drivers of food prices, citing losses of up to 60 per cent of tomatoes after harvest as an example. On measures to address the situation, the minister said the government is investing in agricultural technology, irrigation to support year-round farming, improved storage facilities and access to finance for small holder farmers. He also said the administration is providing direct support through a cash transfer programme that has reached more than 10 million households, with payments made digitally and beneficiaries verified with National Identification Numbers to reduce leakage. But on the streets of Saabo,Ikorodu, at Mile 12, Oyingbo and Ebute Metta markets in Lagos, as well as in other parts of the country, the statistics have human faces — and the groan is louder than any government report. Alhaji Hammed Otufowora, a feed miller and fish farmer said the present cost of food cannot be compared to what it was in the past, but the bigger danger, he stated, is that farmers are quitting farming. According to him, the crisis is traceable to two things — high cost of transportation and collapse of returns on farming. “The cost of food in Nigeria, we cannot say it is very high compared to the past. But presently, what we are having now, we can still trace it to transportation. But secondly, the price is still going to go up if government doesn’t do anything,” he said. Otufowora said turnout in the market is very poor because farmers are no longer coming. “ Farmers are not coming to the market again, which means a lot of farmers are backing out because they don’t have much. So they cannot really invest,” he said. He warned that Nigeria may face food scarcity because farmers are abandoning the business daily. “You can see that nobody is coming to price what we are selling. The danger is that there could be famine in this country because farmers are backing out every day,” he said. He, however urged the Federal Government to ensure a guaranteed off-take system. “Government should do something to encourage the farmers. If government can create a hub, whatever farmers produce, they bring to the hub and government will buy everything and sell it out to people at subsidised rate to make it cheap. Farming is the only business that can accommodate at least 80 per cent and give this country employment,” he stated. Mr. Olaoseegbe Adeniyi, also known as Akekaka, an executive member of Sabo Market management in Ikorodu, said food prices have actually reduced compared to three years ago, but high transportation cost has erased the benefit. Nigerians groan over rising costs as power crisis worsensNigerians groan as petrol price nears N1,000/litre “If we flash back, cost of food as at three years ago was higher than what we buy now. The prices of foodstuff reduced a little, but the cost of transportation is very high,” he said. “The cost of transportation remains the major challenges because when cost of transportation is added to money spent at home, then generally cost of living will be very expensive and very high. It means domestically, someone will be spending more than his income.” He gave comparative figures to back his claim. “Three years ago, a bag of rice was around N120,000. As of today, it’s N52,000. A bag of beans was N150,000. As of today, a bag of dry beans is relatively N96,000,while the new beans is N70,000. A bag of garri as at that time was N25,000 to N30,000. As of today, a bag of garri is N18,000 to N15,000. So generally, price of food items reduced drastically,” he said. “But the transportation cost is relatively high, very high. So I think government should work on transportation. If transportation can be relatively low, or there can be empowerment towards transportation, domestically, home will be smiling,” he added. He also noted that onions are now very expensive and people are looking for cheaper alternatives. Madam Patrick Gloria, who sells yams at Mile 12 Market, said prices of food items are very high now, especially yams, onions and tomatoes. According to her, prices of yams have increased significantly, while tomatoes are sold in different crates and grades. “The crates are N60,000, N70,000 and even lower,” she said, noting that prices depend on the grade and size. She attributed the high prices to the increased cost of diesel. “The trailer drivers will tell you that the increasing price of fuel determines the price of the goods. Whenever fuel price goes up, it affects every food item. We appeal to the Federal Government to reconsider the prices of fuel,” she said According to her, Mile 12 market is always open and active daily, with different activities going on. She noted that buyers who come early in the morning often get tomatoes, onions and other perishable items at lower prices. “Most times you buy tomatoes, onions and other perishable items at lower prices when you come early to the market,” she said. Umar Yisa, a tomato seller at Mile 12 market, said the price of tomato is high now because of the various challenges faced by truck drivers transporting food from the North to Lagos. Yisa highlighted insecurity as a major factor, saying many trucks carrying food items from the North get stuck on their way to Lagos and tomatoes get spoilt in the process. The result, he said, is an increase in the prices of what remains. “According to him, a basket of tomatoes now is N70,000 and onions is also on the high side,” he said. “We have to pay our way to get all these food items to Lagos. Tomatoes are perishable products and if they don’t get to the market at the normal time they become rotten and it affects sale. That is why we do everything possible to ensure we pay the police at the various checkpoints, we ply the roads that are considered safe for travelling and do as much as we could to maximise our profit,” he said. He called on the Federal Government to ensure adequate security for truck drivers and provide soft loans to farmers for large-scale production. Pastor Paul Adebayo said the current situation in the country affects both the rich and the poor, but noted that the poor feel the pain more. He identified the removal of subsidy as a major factor, even as he insisted that the move was inevitable at the time. According to him, the removal of subsidy affected every aspect of the Nigerian economy, and the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, went up — a development that marked the beginning of the economic downturn. Adebayo explained further that the reforms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration were in stages, but added that the Nigerian economy is yet to recover, which, he said, is the reason many Nigerians are still complaining about the high cost of food items across the country. He, however, advised Nigerians to look beyond government policies and think of additional means of earning income. “We are all trying to survive because the hunger in the land is becoming overwhelming. Survival now consumes what should be living,” he said. “We must learn to budget wisely, plan intentionally, build valuable skills and create more opportunities. In an economy like this, earning money is important, but knowing how to manage it and increase your value is more important because the little you earn as a father, or head of the family or breadwinner is not enough to cater to the needs of the family,” he stated. For Mrs. Josephine Andrew, a cleaner in a private school in Ikorodu, the minister’s statistics are not only numbers, they are the realities of her daily life. The mother of three, whose husband works as a security guard, said her husband’s N70,000 monthly salary goes entirely to food, yet the struggle continues at the end of the month. “We are just surviving amid hardship. But we hope that one day things will change for the better,” she said. Tags:

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