Those who have been praying for a reprieve in the flying inflation in the food sector may have to apply more energy on that spiritual exercise. This is because there are indications that rather than abate the cost of food will continue to soar in the new year. That is the result of the survey done by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO. It said in a recent report that said that there will be a surge in food prices, particularly in West Africa.
It is the belief of FAO that factors like restrictions in trade at the global level, decline in production some owing to conflicts in the subregion and global geopolitical influence will conspire to frustrate efforts at the local levels to boost food supply.
The report, which was released last month, the rise in prices of staple foods like rice, maize, millet and cereals has the potential to impose a negative impact on countries in West Africa, particularly Nigeria in the course of the year.
The international agency has, therefore, implored leadernoted in the affected countries to be vigilant and show more tack in the implementation of policies and global plans to ease hunger in the world. That is because it believes that these developments may pose challenges to food accessibility and affordability in the region.
The report stated inter alia, “Staple prices currently remain above the five-year average across the region. This is attributable to a combination of factors including production deficits, trade restrictions, insecurity in the Sahel, elevated global prices, high transaction costs, and currency depreciation in the coastal countries of the Gulf of Guinea.” Some of the factors are true of Nigeria. As soon as President Bola Tinubu assumed office last year, he took monetary steps that affected the value of the local currency, removed subsidy on petroleum even as part of the things he inherited from his predecessor include the pervasive insecurity, production deficit and huge debt.
The new government has, however, embarked upon a bold move to increase food production beginning from this year. Predictions like the one coming from FAO, however, brings home the sad experiences of farmers in the recent past when natural disasters had robbed them of the expected gains of efforts put into farming. The FAO may also have been guided by sharp practices by government officials in the past to subvert the noble ideas of political actors, by taking steps that frustrated past efforts or by hijacking support to farmers by the government.
