The price of garri has recorded more than 50 per cent increase in Eket area of Akwa Ibom, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Other items that also went up in the area, survey revealed, were the prices of other foodstuffs, including rice and fish.

The survey showed that a cup of gari, which sold at N30 between February and April, now sells at N70, while the cost of six cups of the commodity has risen from N100 to N200 at various markets in Eket and its environ.

Similarly, the current price of a bag of the staple food item is N14,000 as against N8,500 sold between February and April.

At the Udua Nka Market in the Afaha Nsit area of Eket, the price of a 50 kilogram bag of rice has increased from between N8,000 and N9,000 to N13,000 and N14,000, depending on the brand.

A food vendor in the community, Mrs Bassey Peter, lamented the development, saying “the way things are going now shows that hard times await ordinary citizens.”

Peter said that the traffic of buyers of foodstuffs to her shop had reduced since prices of some of the items increased, adding that business was low.

She said that although some people could still afford gari, very many were beginning to stay away from the consumption of rice.

“It is only the rich people that eat rice now unlike before when everyone was managing to buy the commodity," she added.

The prices of fish, yam, tomatoes and palm oil had also increased.

Mrs Ekama Asuquo, another dealer in food items at the Udua Nka Market, attributed the increase to the 2012 flood which ravaged many communities in the state.

Asuquo, who said that the high prices also affected yams, tomatoes and palm oil, added that the flood had destroyed many farmlands in the area.

She said that another factor that contributed to the price hike in gari was that the alternative use of cassava for producing flour for baking.

She urged the Federal Government to stop the exportation of cassava to other countries, saying it was affecting local availability of gari.

A rice seller, Mr Bernard Samson, said that the high cost and scarcity of the product would persist unless the state government did something urgently to address food insecurity. (NAN)

Source: http://odili.net/news/source/2013/may/20/323.html

Na wa oh,even garri.Tank GOD say air no b for sale,everybody for don die finish except politicians
VIA Pakistan network

sheedy407: Na wa oh,even garri.Tank GOD say air no b for sale,everybody for don die finish except politicians

That's why mechanized agriculture is the way forward. At the moment, only 40% of Nigerian arable lands are being utilized.

Is this national or local increase?

Texas.Cowgirl:
Is this national or local increase?

It's a local increase, in Akwa Ibom.

Fresh air

How much is "kongo"?

CFCfan:

It's a local increase, in Akwa Ibom.

No its not just a local increase. Here in Cross River state the price of garri and other commodities are incredibly high.

Take for example Fresh Tomato. This very one didnt just increase, it took a hike. 3 fruits of tomato for 100 naira!!!

The flood last year (and its happening again this year) affected most of the rural areas where this food stuffs are produced, ruined so many farms and houses. . Coupled with the bad roads and high cost of transportation like in garri (you buy a bag at, *not the usual bag* 6-8 thousand naira and transport it at 2-3 thousand naira). . .

Plus the exportation of casava isnt doing well for the manufacturers and consumers.