Food inflation in Nigeria fell marginally to 20.30 percent in November, a 0.01 percent points decrease compared to 20.31 percent recorded in October 2017.
In spite of government’s involvement in the agricultural sector to ease accessibility of funds to local farmers in the country, high year on year food prices and food price pressure continued into November.
The headline inflation rate fell by 0.01 percentage points to 15.90 percent in November, from 15.91 per cent in October.
This is the tenth consecutive time in 2017 that inflation has fallen.
“Sticky food inflation could still be as a result of low production in the agricultural sector, as agriculture’s contribution to the nation’s GDP is still low. The production level is low resulting to higher demand over supply, hence influencing the increase in the prices of food,” said Johnson Chukwu, CEO Cowry Asset Management Ltd.
The rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereal, milk, cheese, eggs, coffee, tea, cocoa, fish and Oil and fats, which is similar to the items that pushed the rise in the food index, in October 2017.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on November 17, 2015 established the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP). The Programme evolved from the consultations with stakeholders comprising Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, State Governors, millers of agricultural produce, and small holder farmers to boost agricultural production and non-oil exports in the face of unpredictable crude oil prices and its resultant effect on the revenue profile of Nigeria.
The CBN disbursed about N43.92 billion to local farmers through the (ABP), an agricultural intervention programme created to build a link between food processing companies and local farmers of agricultural commodities, providing farm inputs in kind and cash (for farm labour) to small holder farmers to boost production of farm commodities, stabilize inputs supply to agro processors and address the country’s negative balance of payments on food.
“Government intervention in agricultural sector is yet to be pronounced as expected due to low level of production of food, high level of productivity will be achieved with more capital investment in the sector. All year continuous farming should be welcomed by investing in irrigation practices,” Johnson concluded.
ENDURANCE OKAFOR & ETHEL WATEMI
