Some stakeholders in Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu States have insisted that the removal of the fuel subsidy was the major cause of rising cost of food items and other goods and services in the country.
The stakeholders spoke in a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey, entitled: “Why prices of foodstuffs keep increasing amidst crop harvests”.
They also attributed the continuous price hike across the country to the harsh economy and insecurity in Nigeria.
They explained that all sectors of the economy have to increase their prices to meet the purchasing power occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy.
A mechanised farmer, Most Rev. Ndubisi Obi, the Bishop of Nnewi Anglican Communion, Anambra, explained that the cost of production had increased since the removal of fuel subsidy.
On what could be done to crash prices of foodstuffs, Obi noted that all the multinationals in the oil sector, communications sector, NonGovernmental Organisations and well-meaning individuals must invest in agriculture.
“As for us, we are struggling to make sure that we hold our heads high, and that we are not bogged down by the various situations that we find ourselves in Nigeria.
“Sometimes, governments don’t know what our farmers are going through; we are not only appealing to the government to help farmers, we also appeal to international NGOs that are looking for ways to help farmers in Africa to come to our rescue.
“Food security is the most important thing any government should do for its citizens, though the government alone cannot do it.
“I’m appealing to corporations like MTN, Globacom, Airtel and others to help in food production,” he said.
The Bishop suggested that the only way for prices of food commodities to drop to a more acceptable level, is for the government to reverse the fuel subsidy removal policy.
According to him, there is no way the government can solve the problem of hike in food prices unless they reverse back to the payment of fuel subsidy.
“Acquiring Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and other policies in place of payment of fuel subsidy cannot work.
He, however, maintained that governments all over the world still subsidised food; fuel, among others, are heavy subsidies in developed countries.
The Bishop also blamed the current hike in food prices on high cost of production, insecurity and hike in transportation fare, saying that farmers needed to increase their prices to meet their end means.
A yam dealer, Chinyere Ikenna, attributed the hike in food prices, in spite of the harvest period, to the harsh economy, insecurity and naira devaluation.
Ikenna said that the government should always carry the masses along when making or implementing policies to ensure its success.
In Ebonyi, some Agric stakeholders have called on the three tiers of government to stop playing politics with the nation’s agribusiness in the efforts to achieve food security and tackle the rising cost of food items.
NAN reports that some of the crops harvested in Ebonyi include: rice, cassava and Garri, yam, palm oil among others.
Yam sellers at Abakaliki International Market blamed soaring transportation fares and insecurity, while the rice dealers pointed to the fluctuating naira-dollar exchange rate as the root of their challenges.
A nutritionist, Susan Onwe noted that food insecurity could be tackled with some changes in policies by the federal, state and local government.
“Yes, apart from the insecurity that keeps farmers away from producing food, communal crises like the Ezza-Effium-Ezza disputes contributed to the price hike.
“We want the government to prioritise agriculture and always include real stakeholders in agribusiness because there are too many farmers around us,” she said.
A trader at the Abakaliki Rice Mill Owners Industry Association, Adaku Emmanuel, also added that the price increases were due to poor agricultural yields and rising demand.
“These factors have created limited availability of food items plus rising demand, leading to rise in prices.
“It is even difficult, especially now that Christmas is approaching. People from different parts of the country are trooping into the state to purchase rice in large quantities.
On the cost of rice, Emmanuel said a 50 kg bag of rice is sold between N65, 000 and N80, 000 depending on the grade and brand, while 25 kg goes for between N35, 000 and N42, 000.
A Yam seller, Orji Nweke, said that a small tuber of yam is selling between N700 and N1, 500, while big ones are sold between N1, 800 and N3, 500 depending on the size.
A lawyer, Jude Okoro, pointed out that the inflation in the country became worse with the emergence of the coronavirus, which affected the global economy.
“I must tell you, the food prices have increased at a rate not seen in many decades. This is even as the harvest of most grains is still ongoing,” Okoro said.
Chairman, Rice Owners Association, Linus Obeji, said the present government, led by Governor Francis Nwifuru, had been supportive to its members, especially in the area of empowerment.
“Yes, some of our members were given seedlings during the period of cultivation but what we are suffering now regarding the hike in food commodities is caused by increase in demand,” he said.
Obeji sought for more support and urged the three tiers of government to deepen development to fully achieve food security and tackle the current increases in food items.
The stakeholders however, advocated for the need to make empowerment and distribution of farm inputs more accessible and visible to farmers.
Commissioner for Information and Orientation in Ebonyi, Jude Okpor, said the government was committed to improving farm productions as the state remained one of the agrarian states in Nigeria.
Okpor noted that the government so far sponsored an Agro training of 200 persons drawn from the 171 wards in the state.
He also explained that the state government had trained 95 youths from its 13 local government areas and empowered them with the sum of N3 million each.
In Enugu, the Young Farmers Association says the high cost of food produced in the country is attributed to high cost of transportation and lack of mechanised farming system.
The president, Young Farmers Association, Kenneth Eze, told NAN in Enugu that the high cost of fuel had made transportation fare to go high, thereby increasing the cost of food in the country.
“The only solution for the price of food to crash is when the price of fuel is brought back to what it used to be; aside from that, food produce will continue to increase,” he said.
Eze added that lack of mechanised farming system also contributed to the rise in the prices of food produce.
He urged the government to bring in farming machines for easy and increased labour activities on farmlands so as to have plenty of food produced during harvesting.
Eze explained that insecurity was one of the major challenges responsible for the high cost of food production in the country, adding that once the issue of insecurity was solved, there would be enough to plant and harvest .
He said that farmers in Enugu State did not have challenges in accessing farm inputs or implements because all registered farmers had easy access to them and the government support.
He said that there was a need to register other farmers, who were yet to be registered at the state Ministry of Agriculture for them to equally access whatever was due to them in terms of input/implement and other government support.
The president, however, said that the young farmers association was waiting for training on the use of the tractors provided by the state government.
“Our challenge for now is the training on how to use tractors in farming, we have been talking to the local government chairmen to bring in 11 persons from each local government for the training,” he said.
Speaking on what the state government is doing to increase food production, the Enugu State Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Patrick Ubru, said that the state government had begun the construction of 15 rural access roads.
Ubru said that the roads were leading to the agricultural produce processing and aggregation centres across the state.
He said that the roads, when completed, would enhance access to farmers and improve the efficiency of their agricultural supply team, thereby making food much more available in the state.
The commissioner explained that about 300 tractors had been attracted by Gov. Peter Mbah, adding that the tractors would significantly enhance the farmers’ productivity and efficiencies in food production.
