Agriculture
Increasing Food Price Triggers Inflation to 2-Year High
From Joy Okeke, Lagos
The rising cost of food in the country has pushed the inflation rate, a two years high of 13.7 per cent as prices of food rose by 16.67% for the 13th consecutive months.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said this in its September report, released on Thursday, explaining that the food supply chain has been ensnaring terribly on all sides.
Some of the factors that contributed to the spike in food prices include: the closure of the land borders since 2019 ensures that cheap food was barricaded out if the country.
Secondly, President Muhammadu Buhari’s order to the central bank to stop providing foreign exchange for food and fertilizer imports again cut short the inflow of cheap food.
Thirdly, the on-going raid by herders on farms also ensured that food became very scarce in the country.
The government had, however, said that the policies were geared towards self-food sufficiency, the immediate impact has left Nigerian with fixed salaries deflated while food prices continue to soar.
The spike in prices of food items, such as bread, cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, meat, fish, fruits and oils and fats, accounted most for the rise in inflation in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in its Consumer Price Index September 2020.
Daily Asset findings showed that a big basket of Oval-shaped tomatoes now sells for an average of N17, 000, indicating a 6.3 per cent rise in the price when compared to N16, 000 recorded in September.
A big bag of Melon increased by 22.4 per cent, to sell for an average of N46, 500.
Also a carton of Turkey increased by 5.8 per cent to sell for an average of N18, 333, compared to an initial average of N17, 333 recorded in September 2020, and carton of full Chicken that was sold for an average of N14, 000 two weeks ago, now sells for an average of N14, 500, representing a 3.6 per cent increase in price.
A big bag of Bush mango seed, popularly known as “Ogbono” now sells for N100, 000 at Mile-12 market.
A 5.3 per cent increase compared to N95, 000 reported earlier, while a big bag of dry Onions increased by 48 per cent to sell for an average of N55, 500, compared to an initial average of N37, 500.
Furthermore, a big bag of new Onions rose by 60.8 per cent selling at N41, 000 as against the N25, 500 it was initially sold for.
A bag of Pepper increased by 9.7 per cent to sell for an average of N17, 000, while a medium-sized bag sells for an average of N9, 000 – a 38.5 per cent increase in price.
Also, a big basket of Sweet Potato now sells for an average of N13, 500, from an initial average of N14, 000 – a 3.6 per cent reduction in price, while the price of a big basket of Irish Potatoes reduced by 29.5 per cent to sell for an average of N21, 500, compared to N30, 500 recorded in September.
For rice, 50kg of Royal Stallion Rice still sells for an average of N30,333, Mama Gold (N29,750), Caprice (N29,667), and Mama’s Pride (N25,500).
A big sized bag of Brown Beans still sells for an average of N33, 000.
Consumer prices rose 13.7 per cent from a year earlier, compared with 13.2 per cent in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report published on its website on yesterday.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. expects Nigeria’s inflation to accelerate in coming months, peaking close to 18 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2021. The main source of price pressure has been pass-through from the recent naira depreciation, analysts at the bank said in a research note.
The food index rose by 16.7 per cent from a year earlier, while costs increased 1.9 per cent in the month, the most since June 2017.
The International Monetary Fund expects Nigeria’s economy to shrink 4.3 per cent.
The central bank in September said inflation is likely to rise to up to 14.15 per cent at the end of December due to supply shocks as a result of the pandemic, which has curtailed economic activity and created disruptions.
Prices rose in September across the range of goods and services, rising more in cities than in rural areas, the statistics office said.
“The urban inflation rate increased by 14.31 per cent (year-on-year) in September 2020 from 13.83 per cent recorded in August 2020, while the rural inflation rate increased by 13.14 per cent in September 2020 from 12.65 per cent in August 2020,” its report said.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) has given its nod to the recommendations aimed at repositioning the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to ensure food security for Nigerians.
Chaired by the Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima, the NCP approved the recommendations from the committee on BOA during its second meeting of 2024 held on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at the Presidential Villa Abuja.
In his address at the meeting, the Vice President emphasized the importance of optimizing BOA as part of the administration’s agenda to provide food security for the nation.
He urged the committee to engage professionals with integrity to manage the process effectively.Presenting the committee’s report, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, who is also the Vice-chairman of the NCP, highlighted the decision to reposition BOA for efficiency and effectiveness. He expressed confidence that the recommendations would guide the Council in revitalizing the Bank of Agriculture and positioning it globally.
One of the Key recommendations includes upgrading the Bank’s ICT infrastructure to automate processes and ensure accountability.
Recall that in 2023, an 8-member inter-ministerial team was set up by the NCP to review the state of affairs at BOA, given its critical role in agriculture and the administration’s commitment to food security.
Additionally, in 2016, the NCP approved collaboration between the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, along with the Federal Ministry of Finance, to restructure and recapitalize BOA.
According to a statement by BPE Head of Public Communications, Amina Tukur Othman on Friday, the BOA, formerly known as Nigeria Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank, waa established in 1992.
It is owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) holding 60% and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) holding 40%. The Bank is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS).
Wife of the Anambra State Governor, Dr Nonye Soludo, on Saturday launched the organic garden competition in secondary schools in Anambra to encourage children to learn more about food and farming.
Soludo, while addressing Healthy Living Teacher Ambassadors in Awka, said the organic garden competition would help teach children the importance of food and farming and its impact on their lives.
She described organic farming as a process that involved the use of natural food sources and nutrients for farming practices without fertiliser or other chemicals.
“This competition is part of the Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo Campaign to achieve a culture of health consciousness, drive organic agriculture with emphasis on food safety and sustainable living.
“It will help our students learn valuable lessons about where their food comes from, the benefits of eating fresh and healthy foods, and how to care for the environment.
“Vegetable seeds will be distributed to schools and at the end of every term, schools with the three best gardens will be rewarded.
“Our children at a tender age will start to appreciate agriculture as an essential way of life and the need to be part of building solutions that foster healthy foods in the society,” she said.
Also speaking, Dr Afam Obidike, the state’s Commissioner for Health, said the schools garden competition would increase student’s knowledge about the nutritional value of foods.
In her remarks, Prof. Nkechi Ikediugwu, Chairperson, Post Primary Schools Service Commission, said schools in the state would offer Health Living lecture every Wednesday after break to help students learn how to be healthy and grow into healthy adults.
Reports says that the programme featured distribution of okro, carrot, pepper, tomatoes, watermelon and cucumber seeds to the school teachers to begin the process of their school gardens.(NAN)
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has received 2.15 million bags of assorted fertilisers from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Reports says that the assorted fertilisers would be distributed to farmers to curb food inflation in the country as well as boost food production and food security.
Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, who spoke at the event on Wednesday in Abuja, expressed gratitude to the President Bola Tinubu and CBN for the gesture.
Kyari assured the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, that the inputs would be judiciously used and delivered to the intended farmers.
“Thank you very much; this is more than goodies; 2.
15 million bags of assorted fertilisers; we want to express our profound appreciation on behalf of the Nigerian farmers and President Tinubu.“Also, we appreciate you, our dear brother, the CBN governor and your team for giving us this wonderful gift.
“I want to assure you that it will be judiciously used and it will be delivered to the last man and intended farmers where they can reap the benefits of this huge gesture.
“They (farmers) can in turn cultivate and produce more that would stem the galloping food inflation that is affecting our country.’’
He said that challenges such as food prices, food cultivation, flooding and climate change among others had impacted on agricultural production in the country, adding that insecurity was on decline.
“l am happy to say that those things I mentioned are on the decline; insecurity is on the decline and we are mitigating against climate change.
“We are sensitising farmers to go into dry season agriculture.’’
Kyari said that there was need to need to boost and repair irrigation infrastructure so as to have all year round farming.
“Which (irrigation) is even more secured than that of the wet season farming,” he said.
Earlier, Cardoso expressed enthusiasm for the visit and presentation which was to address the issue of escalating cost of food in the country.
According to him, food prices are crucial components of inflation.
He said that the CBN aimed to enhance its partnership with the ministry to improve food production.
“This is precisely why we convene today to strengthen our collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture to mitigate the surge in food prices.
“The gesture is in alignment with our strategic shift towards focusing on our fundamental mandate.
“The CBN has veered away from direct quasi-fiscal interventions and transitioned towards leveraging conventional monetary policy tools for executing monetary policies effectively.
“In this light, we aim to extend our support and foster closer ties with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) with the mandate and expertise to undertake these critical initiatives.
“Consequently, we aim to enhance our partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, bolstering your endeavours to enhance food productivity and security, ultimately curbing food inflation and fortifying our pursuit of price stability.
“In pursuit of these shared goals, we are delighted to announce the allocation of 2.15 million bags of fertilisers valued at over N100 billion which we humbly hand over to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
“This contribution from CBN aims to amplify food production capabilities and foster price stabilisation within the agricultural sector,” he said.(NAN)
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