On Thursday, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission launched an investigation into the soaring food prices in Onitsha, Anambra State, by visiting local markets.
During their visit, commission officials met with trade associations, traders, and marketers to uncover the underlying factors driving up the cost of staple foods.
The FCCPC’s South-East Zonal Coordinator, Jude Akolam, explained to market leaders that the Federal Government had dispatched them to gather information and address the issue, which has been affecting consumers nationwide.
Through this fact-finding mission, the commission aims to identify the root causes of the price surge and develop strategies to mitigate its impact on the public.
The South-East Zonal Coordinator of FCCPC, Jude Akolam, while addressing market leaders on their mission to the markets said the Federal Government has sent them on a “fact-finding mission” to find out why the cost of food items is on the increase.
He highlighted after the findings, the commission would advise the FG appropriately on how to check the menace of constant hikes in foodstuff.
He highlighted, “The findings will assist the Federal Government to plan for the people. Without these findings, it might be difficult to plan ahead. The constant hikes in prices of commodities, especially food stuffs is becoming worrisome, hence this move by the commission.
“During the engagement, the Commission will gather insights from market executives, sellers, and consumers to identify challenges and propose solutions. We will also gather the importance of compiling a detailed report on every activity and provide actionable recommendations to the Federal Government.”
The dire food situation in the country prompted Akolam to appeal to governments at all levels to tackle the pervasive insecurity, enabling farmers to cultivate their lands and alleviate the widespread hardship.
As people struggle to put food on the table, traders at Ose Okwudo Market pointed to insecurity and exorbitant transportation costs as the primary drivers of skyrocketing food prices.
According to Chief Ikechukwu Umuanozie, represented by Onyejikwe Cypril, addressing these twin issues would lead to a significant decrease in food prices, bringing much-needed relief to the populace.
He mentioned, “The Federal Government should adequately look into these issues for food items in the country to be affordable. Farmers are no longer going to farms because of insecurity and the dealers too are being robbed often by criminals while in transit.
“For us to have reduced cost of foodstuff, the farmers must be allowed to go to farmland and farm. How can someone go to the farm and he is killed or kidnapped and you want others to go there?
“Many people are afraid of going to farm for their safety. Apart from the farmers, traders get attacks on the roads and a lot of us are afraid of travelling out to buy goods.
“Before now, people used to get loans to farm, but today, even if the loans are given, where can the person farm? The cost of fueling vehicles was cheap before, but today it takes a fortune to fuel vehicles and the transporters will charge higher and we have to add the cost to the goods.”
Further speaking, a grain seller, Celestine Udealo, said apart from insecurity and cost of transportation, climate change is a serious problem escalating food prices.
He highlighted, “Extortions at security checkpoints are another factor, before now, we paid N6,000 at any produce checkpoint, but today, we are paying N30,000 at a checkpoint. Before now, we get our goods from Borno, Taraba, Benue and Kebbi states, but today, we hardly get good stuff because of the insecurity and cost of transportation.
“Climate change is also causing problems because farm produce such as okro, and potatoes planted by those around Anambra riverine areas could not survive because of climate change.”
Emmanuel Ndubisi, a beans seller, lamented the drastic price increase of beans, from N80,000 last year to between N230,000 to N260,000 currently, depending on the type.
He also noted similar price hikes for groundnuts, from N90,000 to N185,000, and maize, from N45,000 to N100,000. Anthony Mozo, a yam seller, attributed the skyrocketing food prices to insecurity, transportation costs, and fuel subsidy.
He explained that the cost of transporting yams from Benue to Onitsha has soared from N2 million to N25 million, and the produce checkpoint fees have risen from less than N200,000 to over a million.
These increases have severely impacted the prices of foodstuff in the country.
