Prices of key food items have continued to rise in the last one week in most markets in Lagos metropolis putting severe pressure on the incomes of many families.
Checks around Mile 12, Oshodi and Boundary markets in Lagos on Thursday revealed that a big basket of fresh tomatoes, which sold for between N27,000 and N28,000 last week, now goes for between N30,000 and N32,000.
As of Thursday (yesterday), a 50kg bag of ‘Rodo’ a brand of pepper, increased to N22,500 – N24,000, from N18,000 in June. A 50kg of ‘Tatase’, another brand of pepper, now sells for between N26,000 and N27,000 within the same period.
Biliya Lawal Adam, secretary of Perishable Goods’ section, Mile 12 Market, Lagos, said the high price was mainly due to climate change and scarcity of local varieties.
However, the price of a 50kg bag of onions dropped by 48 percent to N17,000 -N18,000, from N26,000 in June.
“Tomatoes will get more expensive because of the heavy rainfall. The local varieties from Osogbo, Abeokuta, Jos and Ikorodu are not enough compared to last year. The small basket of tomatoes that is sold for between N1,500 and N2,000 is now N5,000,” Lawal said.
‘‘The ‘Tatase’ we get from Gombe State is sold for N17,000, but it goes bad within two days of harvest because of the high water content. We are still expecting ‘Tatase’ from Kano, Niger and Jos,’’ Lawal said further.
However, a 50kg bag of ‘Oloyin’ beans maintained its previous price of N21,000, ‘Olotu’ beans N44,000 and a 100kg bag of garri, N23,500, while the price of a 50kg bag of rice stayed at N16,000.
More so, a 25-litre gallon of both vegetable and palm oil remained flat at the price of N12,000 and N12,500, respectively. The price of a carton of frozen chickens remained unchanged, retaining its N10,500 price, Turkey 11,400 and a kilo of frozen Titus fish N1,100.
Some consumers who spoke with BusinessDay said it was becoming increasingly difficult to cope.
‘‘It has not been easy at all as our expenditure has remained high without a corresponding increase in our income. We had to reduce the frequency with which we ate at home and learnt how to make do with what we can afford for now,’’ Perpetual Umeh, a mother of two in Lagos, said.
Gloria Amaechi, a resident of Festac Town, Lagos, said, “Life has not been easy for her family but they are adjusting by the day.
‘‘Most of our income goes to feeding and it’s not even enough. Nowadays, we eat what we can afford and not what we want to eat. We are practically managing believing it will get better in no distant time.’’
Nnenna Njoku, another Lagos resident, opined that the only way to survive this turbulent period was to cut your cloth according to your size.
“That is all I have been doing. If I cannot buy the one I want, I simply make do with the substitute. It is as simple as that. Since the price of fresh tomatoes went up, I have been making stew with palm nuts. It is not only cheaper but healthier,” Njoku said.
While households are feeling the pangs in terms of inability to afford the basic necessities due to shrinking income, traders are also lamenting the low patronage they are experiencing.
“Customers are buying but in smaller measurements. Even now that the prices of some food items have come down, they still complain they don’t have enough money to spend,” Chiamaka Udemezue, a trader in Lagos, said.
‘‘Patronage has been terribly low. Some days I go home without making any reasonable sale,’’ Adeyemi Olajide, a trader at Oshodi Market, said.
According to a recent report by SBM Intelligence, incidents of widespread lay-offs and cutbacks by companies have continued, the problems of purchasing power decreasing relative to earnings, and pockets of unrest in key farming regions have continued showing up on the shelves of markets.
‘‘Nigerian consumer remains constrained. While food inflation still increased, the rate of increase has slowed down. The irony was that as the purchasing power of Nigerians has decreased, prices kept rising rapidly until the recent slowdown,’’ Cheta Nwanze, head of research for SBM Intelligence, said.
‘‘This slowdown therefore seems to have offered the succour many Nigerians desperately need at the checkout counter,’’ Nwanze said.
CHINWE AGBEZE
