Escalating food prices: FG to inaugurate commodity board soon

With the steady rise in the prices of staple foods in Nigeria, the Federal Government says it will soon establish a National Commodity Board.

The board, according to Vice President Kashim Shettima, is expected to arrest escalating food inflation in the country.

Shettima made this known on Tuesday during a two-day high-level strategic meeting on climate change, food systems, and resource mobilization held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said the board will be tasked with the mandate to assess and regulate food prices, as well as maintain a strategic food reserve for stabilizing prices of crucial grains and other food items.

Persecondnews reports that over the past two months, prices of basic food items in Nigeria have surged by at least 40 percent.

As of Monday, February 11, 2024, staple foods such as rice, beans, garri, groundnut oil, tomatoes, and bread have experienced a dramatic spike in prices, soaring by over 40 percent from December 2023 to February 2024.

A market survey revealed frightening figures: a 50kg bag of rice escalated to N65,000 from N35,000; beans surged to N1,600 per mudu measurement from N800; and a 50kg bag of garri skyrocketed to N39,500 from N22,000.

Additionally, the cost of a carton of Super Pack-sized noodles surged to N11,140 from N6,000, while 25 litres of groundnut oil shot to N57,000 from N34,000.

Similarly, the price of a crate of eggs surged to N3,700 from N2,500, and the price of a 50-kg bag of sugar jumped to N85,000 from N40,000.

The cost of a 900-gramme loaf of bread surged to N1,200 from N600, while a 1-kg pack of semovita rose to N1,400 from N900.

Even tomatoes, measured in small dustbin baskets, surged to N4,000 from N1,500, among other significant increases.