Price of Garri, rice rise above 50%

The price of cassava flakes, popularly known as garri and rice have recorded more than a 50 per cent increase in Enugu metropolis, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The NAN Correspondent, who conducted a market survey on Thursday in Enugu, observed that prices of foodstuffs such as garri and rice have increased by 50 per cent in the metropolis.

The survey showed that a cup of garri, which sold for ₦150 in April, now goes for ₦250 while a five litre paint bucket is sold for between N4,000 and N4, 300

Similarly, the current price of a bag of garri is sold for ₦45,000 as against N₦30,000 in April.

At the Garki Market, Enugu, the price of a 50-kg bag of foreign rice rose from between ₦70,000 and ₦75,000 to between ₦95,000 and ₦100,000, depending on the brand.

NAN reports that a 50kg bag of local rice is sold for between ₦80,000 to ₦85,000 depending on the brand.

Mrs Gladis Ugwu, a garri seller at the New Market, said that the only way to reduce the high cost of garri would be by securing farmlands and stopping exportation of the produce to other countries.

Ugwu said exportation of the commodity had affected the availability of the produce in the country.

Mr Arinze Ozor, a rice seller at Ogbere Main Market, said that the high cost of rice in the country would persist if the government failed to act urgently to address food insecurity.

Ozor said that the traffic of buyers of foodstuffs in his shop had reduced since prices of every item increased.

A buyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, attributed the high cost of living in the country to subsidy removal from petroleum products.