Lagos residents have raised concerns over the continued increase in the price of beans, their major source of protein.
They said the consistent rise in the price of beans this year had become unbearable and urged the governments to intervene.
The residents spoke in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.
NAN reports that a 40kg bag of beans, which sold for N26,000 in January, now sells for N115,000, while a 100kg bag, which sold for N55,000 at the beginning of the year, now sells for N230,000.
This made the staple food beyond the reach of many of the residents.
Mrs Uloma Chigozirim, a housewife and mother of four on Santos Estate, Akowonjo, expressed worry that children might be malnourished following the high increase in the price of beans.
“Beans used to be the cheapest food; now, we do not even understand what is happening.
“The price keeps going up every other week; even traders cannot tell us the reason for the hike,” she said.
Hinting on the possible reason for the hike in the price of the produce, Mr Uche Ikenga, a beans farmer at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, noted that the produce was not an all-season crop.
“It has the time it is cultivated. The peak period for bean harvest is usually at the end of the year. Then we have enough supply for the growing demand for the produce.
“However, harvest time is when some cattle are foraging everywhere for food.
“Last year, many farmers lost their harvest because their bean farms were consumed by the foraging cows.
“The produce is scarce and expensive this year because last year’s harvest was low,” Ikenga said.
A beans trader at the Dry Foodstuff Section of Ile-Epo Market, Agege, Mr Ahmed Yusuf, said that beans might not be unavailable in the coming months.
“Last two weeks, we sold a small bucket of beans for N6,500, but now the same quantity sells for N8,000.
“The price keeps soaring daily, and we sell as we buy. We no longer keep it because of the price unpredictability.
“We are not even sure if we will have beans to sell by this time next month because the produce is unavailable,” he said.
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