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Prices of garri, yam drop by 60% in Enugu

Olamilekan FAWAS

The price of some food items like gari and yam have significantly dropped in major markets in Enugu metropolis, TBI Africa reports.

A market survey conducted on Thursday in Enugu revealed that price of food items such as processed cassava called garri and tubers of yam have dropped by over 60 per cent when compared to previous months.

Some traders and farmers, has attributed the price drop to the harvest season and the Federal Government’s sustained focus on agriculture.

A garri seller at Akwata Market, Mrs Uzoma Aku, said that the price had gone down from as high as N800 to between N300 and N250 per paint bucket, depending on the type a buyer wished to buy.

The four-litre paint bucket is usually the standard measure for cereals in South East.

Jude Ede, another garri seller at New Market, said that by encouraging youths to go into farming, cassava farming, the price of garri, would remain stable.

Ede said that a bag of white garri now sold for between N5,000 and N5,500, while the red type cost N7, 000 when compared to their previous price of N14, 500 and N12,000 respectively.

Similarly, a yam seller at Garki Market, Mr Ifenna Ikokwu, said that a medium size of yam tuber which cost N750 before the harvest season, was now N350, while the big size one, which sold for N1, 400 previously, now cost between N700 and N800.

Mrs Vicky Onyia, another yam seller at New Market, said that 60 tubers of yam that was previously sold for N28,000 had dropped to N21,000.

Mr Romanus Eze, the Chairman of Cassava Farmers’ Association, Enugu Branch, said that mass production of cassava accounted for the fall in the price of garri.

Eze said that price could reduce further if many more youths took to agriculture and urged the youths to get involved in farming.

Mr Godwin Izuako, a yam farmer, said that high cost of foods like yam was due to lack of storage facilities.

According to him, with mass production of food stuffs by many families, it would be difficult to experience high cost of food stuffs in the country again.

Many buyers, who came to purchase the staple in markets in Enugu, said they were happy as they could get white garri for N250 and yellow garri for N300.

A buyer at New Market, Mrs Ekwutos Odo, said that the drop in price of garri had given her assurance that price of other food items would soon reduce.

Joy Ani, another buyer, said that campaign of the Federal Government for people to venture into farming had started yielding positive developments.

She said that if more unemployed Nigerians ventured into farming, the country would have food security and even enough to exports.

 

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