New Telegraph-Admin 
The recent decline in the prices of staple food items, particularly grains, which is attributed to the Federal Government’s 2024 import window, should ordinarily be considered praiseworthy. But experts on food policies, however, caution that this artificial suppression is far from sustainable. In fact, it risks longterm damage to the expected growth of the agricultural sector.
Though that import policy made room for massive inflows of cheap foreign commodities it was nothing but a temporary measure, driving down costs and providing only short-term relief to consumers.
The factors responsible for this are fundamental to Nigeria’s food security. For instance, when farmers struggle to meet the market needs it is probably because they face difficulties during the planting season, and when supply dwindles, prices are bound to rise. In Nigeria, production is mainly affected by input cost, insecurity and of course, climate change.
This is likely given the freaky weather conditions disrupting the food system. According to Mr Ofon Udofia, an international trade expert and Executive Secretary Institute of Export Operations and Management (IEOM), the policy has not reflected genuine increases in local output.
Rather, they act as deliberate interventions that undercut domestic producers. Traders, especially in key northern markets, such as the Boko Haram terrorised Maiduguri, report diminished incentives for stocking grains, with slim prospects for price recovery.
This reduced buying activity signals back to farmers, who face the threat of lower returns or outright losses on their harvests. In a similar vein, a retired senior agriculturist and active farmer in the Niger Delta, Mr Adonye Ezekiel, shared his personal setbacks, describing substantial financial loss from storing cowpeas that plummeted in value postpurchase. He highlighted how businessoriented stockists now grapple with similar distress.
Traders, especially in key northern markets, such as the Boko Haram terrorised Maiduguri, report diminished incentives for stocking grains, with slim prospects for price recovery
This underscores broader discouragement among producers. Another critical factor that has compounded the issue is the naira’s depreciation against the CFA franc has reversed traditional trade flows. So, traders from neighbouring Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Benin now purchase large volumes in northern Nigeria for export homeward, siphoning off local supplies in informal cross-border dealings rarely tracked officially.
The pertinent question therefore, is what steps are being taken to sustain local production and boost export as it was in the sixties. To provide credible answers to he question a look at the factors that affect the prices of food items has become an imperative. These include the marketing mix of offering’s costs, the demand, the customers whose need is designed to meet and the external environment.
These include the competition, the economy, and government regulations. Not left out are the nature of the offering, the current stage of its production and its promotion. Furthermore, food cost is affected by oil prices. When there is a 1% rise in the price of oil, it can increase food commodity prices by 0.2%. Other determinants are animal diseases, weather conditions and the prices of fertilisers.
And as a way forward, experts are of the opinion that without mechanisms like price monitoring or guaranteed minimum support, the sector remains vulnerable to speculation. Farmers may go back to grain cultivation or to less volatile crops, potentially causing erratic cycles of gluts followed by sharp scarcities and inflated costs, as we have experienced in the past.
Farmers should also avoid prolonged warehousing which raises chances of spoilage and increased post-harvest losses, ultimately shrinking available food volumes. Looked at dispassionately, today’s seemingly affordable staples conceal deep vulnerabilities.
The import-driven price relief, while politically convenient, erodes the foundation for selfreliant production and could pave the way for future instability if structural reforms fail to prioritise local farmers.
With specific regard to the Nigeria situation, agriculture should be the responsibility of state governments buoyed with relevant laws guaranteeing access to fertile farmlands. Support in terms of farming machinery, fertilizer, supply of hybrid seedlings that are diseaseresistant, early maturing with bumper harvests should be given to the local farmers.
They also need training on the use of hi-tech equipment as well as guidance on organic farming which is the best way to go. The federal and state governments should do much more on providing security to all the farmers.
If that is done, especially in Benue, Borno, Sokoto, Zamfara, Plateau, Kogi, Kwara and Ondo there would be no need to keep importing grains to check high food prices. Instead, focus should shift to the areas of core competence of each state and the provision of raw materials for food industrialization.
These include the processing, preservation, marketing of locally produced packaged food products which we currently import at high costs. All of these with policies that support an enabling business environment to thrive and there will be no need to import food items, which we can locally produce in abundance.
