Prices of foodstuffs have significantly dropped in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
A survey conducted by NAN in major markets in Maiduguri, Damaturu, Yola-North and Numan, indicates a steady decline in the prices of rice, maize, beans, pepper, millet, spaghetti and cooking oils, when compared to the prices earlier in the year.
At Monday Market in Maiduguri, a 50kg bag of rice sold between N78,000 and N82,000 in August and September, now sells for between N64,000 to N65,000.
While a 100kg bag of maize that previously traded from N60,000 to N65,000 now goes between N40,000 and N45,000.
Similarly, the price of white beans had also dropped from an average N105,000 per 100kg bag to N85,000, while a basket of fresh pepper, which traded as high as N70,000 to N85,000 at the peak of its scarcity earlier in the year, now sells between N6,500 and N8,500.
NAN reports that a 100kg bag of millet now sells around N46,000 as against N65,000 sold three months ago.
Similarly, sorghum had also dropped to about N38,000 from N50,000 to N55,000 within the period under review.
Malam Haruna Bukar, a grains dealer at the market, attributed the decline to increased supply from local farmers and enhanced access to farms, following recent security improvements in parts of Jere, Konduga and Mafa Local Government Areas (LGAs).
“We are getting more paddy rice and maize from communities around Zabarmari, Muna, and Dusuman. Prices came down because supply increased,” he said.
Hajiya Amina Umar, a beans and garri retailer in the Baga Road’s Market, said the improvement was welcomed but warned that it might be temporary.
“Customers are happy, but we traders fear that once this harvest passes, prices will climb again because we don’t have storage.
“If government provides storage centres, we can buy in bulk and keep prices stable,” she said.
A pepper seller, Fatima Mohammed, said the drastic fall in pepper prices followed availability of the perishable item due to influx of new harvests from farms in Biu, Shani and Damboa areas.
She said that surge in prices of perishable items largely had to do with high cost of transportation.
Mohammed called on the state government to formulate policies of supporting farmers to transport their produce to the market.
Malam Babagana Lawan, a retailer of sorghum and millet at Tashan Bama’s Market in Maiduguri, said insecurity and lack of affordable transportation remained the biggest threats to price stability.
“Farmers around Gwoza and Bama produce a lot, but the cost of bringing their goods to Maiduguri is too high.
“Many drivers refuse to load because of attacks on the road. If new counter-insurgency strategies are introduced and roads are repaired, prices will remain low and even drop further,” he said.
Halima Musa, a customer, appealed to government at all levels to sustain the drop in prices for the good of all.
At Bayan Tasha Market in Damaturu, a big measure of white beans cost N3,000 as against N6,000 in February, while the price of a big measure of red beans stood at N2,400 as against N4,800 within the period under review.
A big measure of rice also dropped from N5,000 in February to N2,500, while the prices of big measures of maize and millet now cost N1,000 and N800 as against N2,500 and N2,600, respectively, in February.
Similarly, the price of a carton of spaghetti now trades for N13,000 as against N19,000 in February, while the price of Kings cooking oil is going for N15,000 as against N19,500 in February.
Anwar Babagana, a trader in the market, called on the Federal Government to sustain the policy shift towards importation in order to have affordable prices of foodstuffs in the markets.
Gloria Thomas, a customer, called for the sustainability of grains import, but urged the Federal Government to also support farmers with farm inputs.
When contacted, an economist with Yobe State University, Damaturu, Dr Binta Yahaya, attributed the drop to massive importation of grains by the present administration.
“Regarding the drop of prices of foodstuffs, Nigeria was facing severe inflation in the past two quarters, which brought untold hardship.
“The sharp decline in the prices are attributable to some policy changes by the present administration regarding importation of foodstuffs.
“It’s now widely known that there has been massive importation of wheat, rice, among others, to tackle the issue of food insecurity in the country,” she said.
Yahaya said that the massive importation led to flooding of markets with grains nationwide, thereby forcing prices down.
“The law of demand and supply state that if there is too much supply of goods, price will automatically go down,” she said.
Yahaya, however, called on government to apply a balanced approach to ensure that both customers and farmers were not negatively affected by the trend.
She suggested that while import continued to cushion inflation, there was also a need for deliberate policies of making fertiliser and other farm inputs available and affordable to farmers.
Meanwhile, at Yola Central Market, a 50kg bag of local rice sells between N32,000 and N36,000, down from N48,000 to N55,000 three months ago.
A medium measure of maize, at the market, now goes for between N550 and N650, compared to N1,000 it sold earlier in the year.
While beans had dropped from N1,500 per medium measure to about N900 to N1,000 three months ago.
Malam Musa Mohammed, a trader in Numan Market, also said government needed to balance the import policies with support for local farmers to avoid long-term food production challenges.
“Sustaining reduced prices would require stabilising the market prices and improving transportation systems for farm produce,” he said.
Mrs Zulayya Suleiman, a customer at Jimeta Market, said introduction of policies of buying produce from farmers, input subsidy and establishment of more grain reserves in the country would help in stabilising prices.
“These would protect farmers while keeping prices affordable for consumers,” she said.
Dr Obadiah Noah, an agriculturist and retired Director with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, said the current trend could be sustained if government invested in local production, improved irrigation systems and addressed insecurity on farmlands.
According to him, other measures include stabilising import policies, improving access to credit for farmers, and expanding rural road networks to reduce cost of transporting food.
He said the government must consider long-term impact, adding that while price reduction brings short-term relief, over-dependence on imports could threaten national food security. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng).view more