By Chinyere Anyanwu, [email protected]
The current fuel crisis which has persisted for weeks is taking a heavy toll on food prices across major Nigerian cities. So far, the agriculture sector has taken a hit with prices of foodstuff on a steady rise, and the lamentations triggered by this situation are unprecedented.
Today, the price of a basket of tomatoes which had started to cashing before the fuel crises is now on the rise again. From between N14,000 and N16,000, it has risen to between N19,000 and N20,000. A bag of pepper which sold for N18,000 is now selling for N20,000 while a small tuber of yam which went for about N800 before the now has risen to N1,000. A bunch of pumpkin vegetable (ugu) which sold for around N4,500 at Oyingbo Market before the fuel scarcity is now selling for about N8,000. The list is inexhaustible.
Reacting to the situation, the Vice President, Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) and Group CEO, Best Foods Fresh Farms Ltd., Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere, said it is difficult to say if the situation would be brought under control soonest.
Ijewere stated that, “the first impact is that the prices of foodstuff are rising rapidly. There’s a shortage of vehicles to help us with our logistics in the value chains because most of them are on queues and if they have to buy from the black market, they are buying at about four times the normal price. So this has created a problem on the highways with a lot of foods travelling across states’ boundaries.
“These have further exacerbated the situation and there are a number of people capitalising on it. When you roll this back, at the end of the day, it’s the farmer who cannot evacuate his produce from the farm to the market. It’s the same big market that has a lot of foodstuff to sell to bulk buyers but cannot load them on vehicles because vehicles are not available. Some vehicles deliberately load and go and queue and that has an impact of further creating deterioration of the goods. So they are all victims. Everybody along the value chain is a victim of what this fuel shortage has caused starting from the farmer to the person who is buying the food to eat in his home.”
He lamented the inability of the government to get to the root of the bad fuel saga and take concrete action on anyone indicted. He said, “the situation about the bad fuel that is creating the problem is a reflection of the corruption in the system because for the heavy money Nigeria is paying for the importation of fuel, we should have a robust quality control system before we found ourselves in a huge situation where so much has been pumped into the Nigerian system creating so much problem.”
Another prominent stakeholder in the sector and founder of Ope Farms, based in Ogun State-Ms Olusola Sowemimo, noted that the rising cost of petrol and diesel is adding to the pressure being experienced by farmers, especially the conventional ones, whom she said are complaining bitterly because they use imported fertiliser and other farm inputs.
According to her, “the high cost of food items that was on ground before owing to insecurity is now being met by another higher cost because the initial issue was insecurity and that drove prices higher as farmers are not farming anymore due to the risk to their lives. Now the few that are doing it are under pressure because of the increase in cost of virtually everything.
“The average person will say, ‘what does a farmer need fuel and diesel for’, but they have pumping machines and generators. This is dry season and if you want to produce right now, you need irrigation and the costs of these inputs have gone up. So ultimately, the price increment that was on ground is going to be met by another increment. It’s not the best of time for anyone and you know it has a knock-on effect on everyone.”
An interstate trader who deals on foodstuff, popularly known as Iya Ijebu, at the weekend, painted a grim picture of the challenges confronting people in her line of business following the ongoing fuel crisis. The woman who plies her trade between Ibadan in Oyo State and Lagos, brings various foodstuff including garri, yam, cocoyam, vegetables, tomatoes, pepper, and fruits, among others, from Ibadan to Lagos for sale.
Responding to customers’ complaints about the high increase in the prices of her goods, the farm produce seller who makes two trips weekly from Ibadan to Lagos, said it was due to the high cost of transportation and difficulty in getting vehicle to bring her goods to Lagos, a situation she attributed to the scarcity and high cost of fuel and diesel.
She explained: “I am not to be blamed for the astronomical increase in the prices of these foodstuff. Since the fuel scarcity started, getting vehicle to bring goods to Lagos has been a daunting task. Even today (last Saturday), I couldn’t find vehicle to bring me with my goods to Lagos because most of them are on queues at filling stations. The only driver who agreed to carry me said if I can buy him fuel, he will take me to Lagos. I had to buy N15,000 fuel from the black market for him and also paid him N10,000 and that is why I was able to bring these foodstuff today. After these expenses and suffering, do you still expect me to sell the items at the price as before?”
A medium sized tuber of yam she sold for N800 before the fuel crisis was sold for N1,000 while a bunch of efo (Yoruba vegetable) she sold for N150 was sold for N250.
The price increases cut across all the foodstuff on display for sale.
