By Francis Ogwo
Reports from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday revealed that in October, there were major increment in the prices of some food items in the country.
Details from its recent report on Food Price Watch for October 2020 showed that that the prices of poultry products, such as eggs, as well as other commodities had an increase.
“Selected food price watch data for October 2020 reflected that the average price of one dozen of agric eggs medium size increased year-on-year by 5.48 per cent and month-on month by 1.47 per cent to N487.81 in October 2020 from N480.76 in September 2020.
“The average price of piece of agric eggs medium size (price of one) increased year-on-year by 7.92 per cent and month-on-month by 1.92 per cent to N43.72 in October 2020 from N42.90 in September 2020,” the report added.
Further information from the bureau also pointed out that the average price of 1kg of tomato increased year-on-year by 31.81 per cent and month-on-month by 7.22 per cent to N307.63 in October 2020 from N286.92 in September 2020.
It further stated that the average price of 1kg of rice (imported high quality sold loose) increased year-on-year by 38.62 per cent and month-on-month by 2.75 per cent to N530.32 in October 2020 from N516.13 in September 2020.
In a similar vein, the NBS stated that the average price of 1kg of yam tuber increased year-on-year by 35.11 per cent.
There was however a reduction in the price, month on month by -1.12 per cent to N242.87 in October 2020 from N245.62 in September 2020.
This report by NBS justified the posit by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that about 22 million people could face a food crisis in Nigeria between October 2020 and August 2021.
The report also stated that nine million people are in the first phase of the food crisis, which runs from October 2020 to December 2020.
The crisis of food security even as the country battles with recession was also reviewed by the FAO to have been worsened by the prolonged religious and ethnic conflicts and even organized crimes by some bandits, which has greatly affected farmers working on their farmlands.
This worsened the output volume as the report says the natural issues such as flooding or drought have already dealt heavily on the agricultural sector.
