Good News : Food Price Crashes , 9 Tubers Of Yam Now N1, 300 In Central Nigeria

Good News : Food Price Crashes , 9 Tubers Of
Yam Now N1, 300 In Central Nigeria

Bountiful farm yields currently being
harvested in most parts of central Nigeria
have forced down the prices of food items in
the markets, a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
survey has shown.

Some of NAN correspondents, who visited some
retail and wholesale food markets in
Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Niger and
Taraba, found that the gradual, but steady
arrival of fresh crops had stepped up supply
and pushed down the costs of the items.

At Terminus, Katako, and Dadin-Kowa
markets in Jos, for instance, NAN found that
the prices of root crops like yam, sweet
potatoes, cassava and cocoyam had gone
down by an average of 45 per cent.
NAN found that nine tubers of yam, which
used to cost an average of N3000, were sold
for between N1,500 and N1,300, depending
on their sizes.

The price of garri (cassava flour) was also
forced down by the good farming season,
with a measure of the commodity, which sold
for between N380 and N400 some months ago,
going for between N220 and N260.
Some farmers, food dealers and petty
traders, who spoke with NAN, attributed the
price differences to the bountiful farm yields
and the rising interest in farming activities
by government workers.

Mr Yohanna Gyang, a major farmer in
Zawan, near Bukuru, explained that 2017
was generally good “for every serious
farmer”.

“The rains were very kind this year; they
came early and remained steady.
“The security situation has also improved,
making it possible for farmers to go to their
farms.

“Not long ago, it was dangerous to go to the
farm. It was equally dangerous to harvest
farm produce because attackers were always
lurking around with guns. But peace has
returned.

“Government also tried and gave us some
fertiliser. Unlike previous years, the fertiliser
came early this year. So, we took advantage
of that to farm early and massively,” he
said.

A petty trader at Miango market in Bassa
local government, Mrs. Kaneng Pamzi,
attributed the reduction in the prices of food
items to the flooding of the markets with new
farm produce “by many farmers at the same
time” .

“Prices of yam, sweet potatoes, ground nut,
cassava and other items that I sell, have all
gone down from where we buy, that is why we
are also selling them for this low prices
here,” she said.

She said that the harvest season had brought
in more food into the markets but with fewer
buyers because civil servants, who used to be
major buyers of yam, now consume their
produce because a lot of them have embraced
farming.

“Some civil servants, who have embraced the
farming business, have also saturated the
market with their farm produce; they used to
be buyers, but they have joined us to beg for
buyers in the market,” she said.
Pamzi expressed optimism that prices of
foodstuffs would crash further as more food
items flood the market.

In Minna, the situation was found to be the
same with farmers and traders saying that
the prices of food items had crashed due to
the bumper harvest in many parts of the
state.

Some of them, who spoke with NAN, said that
the arrival of new yam had pushed down the
prices of the commodity drastically.
Mallam Nuhu Aiyetoro, who sells at Dikko
market, near Suleija, said that five big
tubers of yam, which used to go for between
N2,200 and N2,500, were currently sold at
N1,200.

He also attributed the lowering prices to the
fact that the buyers were becoming fewer.
“Many consumers do not eat yam much when
it is this fresh; they seem to prefer it more
when it is less watery and that will be around
December or so. But, generally, the price of
yam has gone really down,” he said.

He also attributed the low prices to the good
harvest recorded this year.
“From what we have seen in the farms, the
harvest was good. The rain was early and
consistent. Farmers took advantage of it and
planted early, hence the good yields,” he
said.

A visit to Bariga market, Lagos, showed that
there was a drop in patronage as some
traders complained that they no longer make
profit as they used to make daily.
The prices of tomatoes, rice and garri, which
went up at the turn of the season, have not
witnessed any reduction in most markets in
Lagos metropolis.