The increase is partly blamed on the 2012 floods
that affected parts of the country.
Price of garri has hit the roofs in Calabar, Cross
River state, in a widening scarcity of the food that
has affected many states.
Many blame the raise, in several areas more than
tripled, on last year’s ravaging floods that
affected many states across the country.
A survey of markets in Calabar reveals that a basin
of garri, which was sold for N3500 in April, now sells
at between N5000 and N5500.
Similarly, three cups of the commodity now sell for
N100 and seven cups at N200 as against N100 for six
cups before.
In the villages where the product is bought, it sells
for more than N4,000 against less than N1,000
ahead of the floods.
A garri seller on parliamentary road in the city, Joy
Iquo, said the price of the commodity had also
increased in other parts of the state.
She said the basin measurement of garri which
used to sell for between N3500 and N3800 in Ugep,
in Yakurr Local Government Area, is now sold for
N4800.
“This situation is rather unfortunate because garri
is supposed to be very cheap in Ugep. It is the area
of the state where it is very affordable and
everybody goes there to buy.”
Ms. Iquo said it has become a problem now to buy
the commodity, stressing that the price increase
might have been caused by dwindling amount of
cassava in circulation as well as expectations of
new cropping season.
Alice Udoh, a garri dealer at Marian Market, said the
hike in the price of the commodity, at this time of
the year, was normal, adding that the 2012 flood in
the state might have contributed to the scarcity
of the product.
A taxi driver in the metropolis, Joseph Johnson, said
he already has difficulty in affording garri for his
family.
“Garri is the number one food in my family but the
price is now making it almost impossible for me to
retain it as number one food in my home.”
A farmer, Owali Ilem, however, said that the price of
the commodity would soon come down as corn and
other foodstuffs would soon be available.