ADDRESSING THE HIGH COST OF FOOD
The authorities must do more to bring down the cost of food
Food affordability has long become a major challenge confronting many Nigerian homes. From grains to cereals and beverages, basic staples have been priced beyond the reach of an average Nigerian. Even the on-season periods when prices of certain items drop, providing a window for consumers to stockpile against off-season periods, no long count. In Nigeria today, prices of virtually everything are on the rise. While we are mindful that the challenge is global, what makes the Nigerian situation more sobering stems from several factors, including the high poverty rate.
With the suspension of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in many countries, including Nigeria, hunger has multiplied for millions of people, especially in the Northeast. But the challenge is not only in the Northeast, it is national. Many Nigerians live in extreme poverty. Some of the factors responsible for this state of affair include a growing population amid declining financial resources, high incidence of unemployment, predominant production of primary goods over finished products, aging public infrastructure and opaque systems of governance. In several parts of the country where farming is the main occupation, the incessant violence on communities by terrorists have made the profession a serious hazard.
Recent reports that the agricultural sector in the country recorded only a marginal growth in the past five years, expanding by just 12 per cent between 2019 and 2024, is another indication that not much has been done on food security in a nation where population is expanding exponentially. Titled ‘Stalled Growth: Inside Nigeria’s Agriculture GDP’, the Quartus Economics report states that the sector rose from N52.8 trillion in 2019 to N59.3 trillion in 2024 but failed to cross the N60 trillion mark. “In 2024, Agriculture maintained its trajectory of tepid growth with a two per cent growth year-on-year as the sector continues to lag the nation’s population growth,” the report states.
The federal government often blames the activities of middlemen for the soaring cost of food. While this observation is partly true, the unassailable fact remains that the nation’s monetary and fiscal policies are either wrong-headed or poorly implemented, thereby causing more distortions in the economy, and inflicting more pain on the masses. For instance, the unprecedented free-fall of the national currency is unsettling for a country that depends largely on imported machinery, and raw materials for its industries that produce for the local market. It is simple economics that if local producers source their raw materials and machinery offshore and are subjected to the vagaries of high exchange rate, the cost of their finished products would reflect their production cost and profit margin. The consumer bears the brunt.
While we recognise that hunger is a global challenge, what makes the Nigerian situation worse is that hard life has been around here for too long. Rising unemployment, high inflation and an increasingly vulnerable currency have continued to torment the people and render their lives miserable. It is therefore important for the authorities to address the challenge before it leads to a social upheaval. This is no time to let only the forces of demand and supply determine the consumption behaviour of its citizens. People-friendly programmes must be put in place to inject the much-needed hope into the populace.
We urge the authorities across the country to fashion out measures to salve the frayed nerves of the suffering masses who are currently assailed by unprecedented high cost of living and all manner of economic woes.
