* If the issues of insecurity and cost of transportation are reduced, prices of foodstuffs will go down – Traders
By Nudoiba Ojen
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, has initiated a targeted campaign by visiting food markets to investigate the cause of surging food prices at the markets.
FCCPC officials were at Onitsha markets on Thursday where they
engaged with various trade associations, traders and marketers to identify factors responsible for the rise in food prices, particularly in staple commodities.
FCCPC South-East Zonal Coordinator, Jude Akolam, told the market leaders that the Federal Government sent them on a “fact-finding mission” to find out why the cost of food items is on the increase.
Akolam said, “The findings will assist the Federal Government to plan for the people. Without these findings, it might be difficult to plan ahead. The constant hike in prices of commodities, especially foodstuffs 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 FCCPC coordinator, however, wants the government at all levels to intervene on the issue of insecurity to enable farmers to go to farms and reduce the hardships in the land, adding that people are suffering and finding it extremely difficult to feed their families.
During the engagement, some of the traders at Ose Okwudo Market blamed insecurity and the high cost of transportation for the escalating cost of foodstuff in the country.
The Chairman of the market, Chief Ikechukwu Umuanozie, represented by the market Secretary, Onyejikwe Cypril, stated that if the issues of insecurity and cost of transportation are reduced, prices of foodstuffs would go down.
Umuanozie said, “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.”
A trader attributed the fuel subsidy, which has brought about hike in the price of everything, as another major cause of the rising cost of foodstuff in the country.
