Prices of yuletide staple foods like rice, tomatoes, chicken, and groundnut oil are generally expected decrease this year compared to what it was last year.
This was according to findings made during a market survey in Port Harcourt by our correspondent, who spoke to some food sellers and buyers.
One of the traders Melody, Victor who said that a 50kg bag of rice that was sold for one hundred thousand naira and above last year, has reduced to a price more affordable to consumers.
“Last year a bag of Mango rice was sold for eighty thousand, now Mango is seventy thousand naira”, he stated.
Mr Boniface Okeke noted that vegetables like tomatoes have been cheaper than what they were previously.
” A bag of tomatoes can be bought for N 6,200, N6,500, N7,500, N7,800 and vegetable oil is cheaper now than what it was in January and February,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Mr. Abubakar Saheed who is a livestock seller explained that the price of broiler chicken was eight thousand, five-hundred-naira last year, but increased to nine thousand, five hundred naira this year.
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Broiler has many types. Last year broiler was sold for N 15,000 While, old layers was N8,500. But this year it is N9,500. Even the price of feed reduced from N30,000 to N26,000,” he concluded.
They traders also said that cost of most food items have generally gone down despite few unstable prices but they believed that the prices would continue to remain stable throughout the season.
They however pointed out that hitches in supply and high transportation fare are the factors responsible for the hike in food prices in the nation.
