Market and family menu table reality contradicts government fabulous statistics No matter the polemics on agriculture and food situation in the country, the market and the family menu table remains the best scorecards to assess the impact of government policies and programmes on food security. Nothing much has changed really as indicated from our collective experiences. The indices of food insecurity in Nigeria are many and should be a source of concern to all particularly government whose primary duty is to ensure security and dignity of citizens. The daily hike in market prices of foodstuff including cooking ingredients like tomato, pepper, and onion among others has adversely affected the real purchasing power of the naira. Prices of all major staple foodstuffs from gari, beans, rice, yam and yam flours have tripled in the past twenty four months of the Jonathan administration. A look at galloping market prices of some foodstuffs will reveal that their sweet statistics of performance does not translate to improved food welfare for Nigerians. Prices of some foodstuffs in 2011 and 2013 Foodstuffs Price in 2011 Price in 2013 A bag of white Garri N 4, 500 N9, 500 A bag of Yellow Garri N4,500 N7, 800 A bag of sweet beans N18, 000 N22, 500 4. A bag of ordinary beans N15, 200 N22, 000 5. A basket of tomatoes N4, 000 N13, 000 6. A loaf of bread N30 N70 7. A loaf of family bread N150 N220 8. A bag of rice N8, 500 N11 – 12, 000 This food situation was the focus of the press statement from the leadership of farmers union, the famous Agbekoya farmers’ movement after its national executive meeting. Lamenting the state of food crisis in Nigeria, the President-General of the Nigeria Farmers and Hunters Union, also known as Agbekoya, Chief Kamorudeen Okikiola, complained about the current rising cost of food items in the country. The association was concerned because according to Okikiola, “our people are hungry and 90 per cent of them cannot afford three square meals because of the high cost of food items in the market”. When farmers as primary producers of food cannot eat well, then the nation is in serious trouble!
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 19:05:14 +0000
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