"HABA, DO YOU NEED TO BE TOLD WHY FOOD PRICES ARE HIGH?"-AKOREDE CRIES OUT TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Akorede

I have just read about a task force being set up by the federal government at its statutory weekly federal executive council meeting yesterday to look at the ways of bringing down prices of foods in the country, with a view to ensuring food security. Haba, do we need to be told why food prices are high, and to the extent that food at the rate we are going in Nigeria will become luxury and won't be a basic need in Nigeria again. We might begin to have a day meal and a day of fasting.

Erroneously, most quantitative food economists keep attributing the present situation to an inverse relationship between food production and consumption in the country. Yes, the  microeconomic theory is certainly right. Governments at all levels, the federal government in particular should do everything possible to make foods available and affordable to Nigerians. The present food crises is brought about by high cost of production. I will only consider just 3 out of about 20 major reasons so far compiled.

1. AGROCHEMICALS
(a) Take for instance, such basic inputs like fertiliser. This is not only unavailable, but unaffordable to farmers. Imagine a farmer buying a bag of fertiliser for #10,000 from initial maximum of #5000.

(b) Another important input here are herbicides, pesticides etc. The most common of this was hitherto sold between #650 and #750 off season and #800 and #900 during planting season. This type now go for between #1500 and #2000. So how will prices of foods come down. It is certainly not possible.

2. LAND PREPARATION
(a() Modern Agric involve the use of tractors and other heavy equipment, and these are diesel depend to work. Cost of preparing land is a major investment in farming. A litre of diesel before now ranged between #110 and #130. Agricultural equipment generally are heavy diesel users. The cost of this main source of powering the equipment generally has increased production cost so significantly that it will at the end of the day affect output cost.

(b) Spare parts - Agricultural equipment, like any other type of machines have spare parts which must be replaced. These are not locally manufactured. Accessing foreign exchange to import these had always been a problem.


(c) CUTLASS
 Even if we decide to go crude way of farming. That is the use of hoe- cutlass technology. An average cutlass strong enough to serve a serious farmer between 6 months to 12 months goes for about #4,000. Ditto to other crude farm tools. Even for those that use contract labour, popularly called onise odun. These are migrants foreign labourers, who work for you in your farm on agreed terms. Usually, they demand for a BAJAJ motorcycle per person per year. This was a great recipie for people who had no access to tractors and willing to farm. The situation now is such bad that it will take an average of #300,000 to buy a BAJAJ for a labourer from initial investment of about #120,000 per labourer per year. Without being told again, we can see why a bottle of red oil is almost the price of a 5 litre keg sometimes ago.


(d) Transportation - still under this is cost of transportation of farm products from farm gate to market. There had been general increase in cost of transportation from farm gates to markets. Farmers are not charity organisations. They  will factor all costs incurred to final consumer prices. The increase in pump prices of petrol from initial of #87 or so to #145 hasn't helped in this regards.

3. WHAT ABOUT OUR RURAL ROADS?
The rural roads which serve as the major medium of transportation of farm products from villages where production is taking place, to cities where there is market are in terrible situation. These are often not motorable. In most cases most vehicle owners take their vehicles away from these roads, and when they do. They charge exorbitant prices which tell on what the farmer will sell his products.

4. On a final note, government should see to most of these problems, instead of forcing prices down. Traders if they attempt forcing prices down will begin to hoard foods. To me, such will spell doom for us as a nation.