High transportation costs stoke up food prices multiplier effect
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Bad roads have combined with fuel subsidy removal to hike transportation costs with the collateral effects stoking up the prices of farm produce countrywide.
Farmers express frustration as they struggle to convey their harvests to markets and warehouses.
Some farmers who are unable to afford to pay for transportation are forced to abandon their produce to rot away at farm gates, which negatively impact the prices of staple crops such as cassava, fruits, vegetables, and yam, among others.
A trader, Esther Adeniji, told The Guardian the hike in food prices has spread to every part of Nigeria, worsening the standard of living of families and households already battling with national economic downturn.
A farm produce driver, John Onah, blamed the problem on “roads [that] are completely bad, and it gets even worse while driving at night when you don’t have the full view of flooded roads. Most times, driving through those areas is like driving with your eyes closed.
“In the last few weeks, we have witnessed heavy rain that led to flooding of the roads, leaving the drivers and farmers in a serious dilemma. I always pity the farmers who are almost stranded whenever I couldn’t make it to their farms.
“With the heavy rainfall and ensuing flooding in the last few weeks, it has been a serious struggle and we have to find alternative routes, which make it longer to get to our destination.”
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High cost of vehicle maintenance
Another driver, Patrick Obiaku, added the incessant breakdown of vehicles due to sorry bad roads contribute immensely to high cost of transportation, per The Guardian.
“If there are good and motorable roads, frankly speaking,” he stressed, “we’ll not be experiencing the frequent breakdown and high cost of vehicle maintenance.
“There are particular areas that are not advisable for vehicles to drive through, but because there are no alternative routes, we’ll be forced to drive through in order to put food on our tables.”
A motorist who did not want to disclose his name said: “This development, coupled with the incessant increase in the price of fuel and multiple checkpoints on the road, forced us to jerk up the cost of transporting farm produce.
“The multiplier effect of this is the high cost of goods. It is the consumers that are bearing that brunt.”
Emeka, a trader at the popular Daleko market in Isolo, Lagos, lamented the high cost of transportation negatively impacts his business, saying, “I get most of my food items from the North. The cost of transporting a bag of grain has risen to between N3,500 and N4, 000, irrespective of the quantity you are buying.
“At times, we might schedule the goods to arrive within three days, but because of the rain, it might get here after a week.
“I am advising the government to help us find a solution to these challenges so that the masses can have access to the food they need, regardless of the season of the year.”