- Farmers Are Recording Losses, AFAN Says
- Food Scarcity Will Worsen Inflation, Experts Warn
The prices of vegetables in Lagos markets have soared by as much as 200 per cent as a result of blockage of food and cattle by traders from the North, which began last week.
Checks by BizWatch Nigeria showed that perishable food items had become scarce in Lagos markets and the limited quantity available were expensive.
Recall that cattle and foodstuff dealers under the aegis of the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuffs and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria on Thursday last week stopped supplies to the South.
Their action followed the Federal Government’s failure to meet their demands, which include payment of N47 5million compensation for destruction of lives and property during the #EndSARS protest and last month’s crisis in Shasha, Oyo State.
To enforce the strike, the union’s task force prevented the members from transporting livestock and food from the north to the southern part of the country.
Many trucks, which disobeyed its directives, were stopped along the Jebba-Kaduna road last Friday, prompting the military to intervene.
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Farmers who spoke to BizWatch Nigeria said there were recording losses as traders had refused to buy harvested food items.
Findings from traders at Mile 12 market showed that a basket of tomatoes which sold for N10,000 last week had increased by 200 per cent to N30,000 per basket.
Also, a 50kg bag of cabbage which sold for N8,000 is now with N17,000, indicating 112.5 per cent price increase.
A 40kg bag of carrot was now worth N15,000 as against N8,500 last week, representing 76.47 per cent price increase.
The Chief Executive Officer, PricePally, a platform for sharing bulk food items, Luther Lawoyin, said he had started updating prices on the platform in view of the rising food prices in the market.
He said, “We are updating our prices. The prices have gone haywire and it will get worse due to the food scarcity.
We have been able to maintain prices throughout last week even though it was higher than what we were selling. But now, we have to increase prices. The supply that was available before has sustained us till now.
“Tomatoes, cabbage, carrot and other vegetables transported from the northern part has mostly been affected.”
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The President, All farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kabir Ibrahim, expressed sadness at the actions taken by the group of traders, saying farmers were recording losses due to spoilage of perishable food items.
According to him, using food blockage as a weapon is having a devastating effect on innocent poor Nigerians.
“This kind of thing is reductive because whoever is joking with it (food blockage) does not know where it will end because if nothing goes from the North to the South and if the Southern people does not get things to the North, the country will be in disarray,” AFAN president said.
“People should change their mindset. We cannot have animosity against other people in our country because the poor people will be the ones to suffer.”
“It is not desirable and very unfortunate that something like this is happening. This is not a good weapon to use against your own people.”
Ibrahim called for prompt resolution before the end of the week to avoid further damage.
The Chief Executive Officer, AFEX Commodity Exchange, Ayodeji Balogun, said the current inflation would worsen due to food scarcity and rising food prices.
He added that the multiple taxes imposed on food traders on roads should be nipped in the bud.
“It is going to stress our inflation numbers for the month. It should be very short and I belief that by the end of this week, it should have been resolved. If it doesn’t resolve in a week, it will worsen the inflation, which is in a very tight place,” he added.
