The World Bank reports that there is still significant global food price inflation.
In its most recent Food Security Update report, released on Tuesday, the World Bank said high inflation was observed in low, middle, and high-income countries based on the data available on food prices.
It said, with a 1.3 percentage point increase from the previous food update on January 17, 2023, that the rate of inflation was more than five percent in 63.2 percent of low-income countries.
The report indicated that 73.9 per cent of lower-middle-income countries and 48 percent of upper-middle-income countries, with no percentage change from the previous update, had inflation rates higher than five percent.
Also, two groups, Consumers International and Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF), on Tuesday urged the federal government to step in to halt what they described as unfair food pricing in the market.
They urged the federal government to address the threat of unfair food prices, including strengthening competition, sanctioning anti-competitive practices, tackling monopolies, addressing multiple taxations, and supporting subsidies for farmers.
The group’s research indicated a continued acceleration of retail prices compared to wholesale prices, particularly for beans, yam, rice, chicken, and maize, thus necessitating the call for a thorough investigation by the Federal Government.
Executive Director at CADEF, Prof. Chiso Okafor, stressed the need for regulatory intervention to ensure fair pricing in food markets. Okafor said: “The findings underscore the urgent need for authorities to investigate and address any unfair practices that may be contributing to the burden on consumers and farmers.”
They said the recent research they conducted showed very disturbing trends in Nigeria’s food pricing landscape. The research spans six geo-political zones and focused on fluctuations in food prices, especially staple items such as yam, garri, rice, beans, chicken, and groundnut oil between the months of November and December last year.
The groups’ earlier research in August showed a substantial rise in retail/consumer prices compared to wholesale/market prices for essential food items which suggested that consumers are disproportionately burdened with increased costs, raising questions about fairness in the market.
Consumers International, representing consumers worldwide, developed a tool called the Fair Food Price Monitor. This tool tracks the relationship between food prices at different supply chain stages, utilizing data from reputable sources such as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and FEWS NET.
Specialist in Fair Food Prices in Africa at Consumers International, Davine Minayo, stressed the importance of data-driven decision-making to address market imbalances.
Minayo said: “Our collaborative efforts aim to shed light on the issues affecting consumers and farmers in Nigeria.”
According to the groups, detailed analysis of farm gate, wholesale, and retail prices for commodities such as maize, rice, beans, yam, palm oil, and chicken over the past three weeks revealed notable price fluctuations.
The World Bank Group announced that it has stepped up its response to food and nutrition security in response to the global food security crisis.
It declared it is now making $45 billion available through a combination of $22 billion in new lending and $23 billion from its existing portfolio.
“Our food and nutrition security portfolio now spans across 90 countries.
“It includes both short-term interventions such as expanding social protection, also longer-term resilience such as boosting productivity and climate-smart agriculture.
“Our intervention is expected to benefit 335 million people, equivalent to 44 percent of the number of undernourished people”.