Chink of light appears at the end of the tunnel for Nigerians as the price of yam and tomatoes fall

NIGERIANS suffering from the impact of hyper-inflation that has seen the cost of basic food items soar beyond reach could be in for a bit of a respite after recent figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed the prices of yam and tomatoes are falling.

Over the last year, most Nigerians have struggled to afford basic food items as inflation has soared to over 30%forcing the government to introduce emergency measures such as the handing out of palliatives. Attributed to the removal of Nigeria's petrol subsidy, this galloping inflation has pushed the price of items like yam, rice, tomatoes, gari, beans, cooking oil, pepper, bread, etc out of reach of low income earners.

However, according to the latest data from the NBS, there might be light at the end of the tunnel as the price of tomatoes and yam tubers dropped in August. In its recently-released Selected Food Prices Watch for August 2024, the NBS revealed that the price of both items declined on a month-on-month basis but remained high on a year-on-year basis.

For instance, the cost of 1kg of tomatoes decreased by 11.07%  month-on-month to N1,506.35 in August from N1,693.83 in July. Also, the average price of a 1kg tuber of yam fell by 7.82% to N1,661.80 in August 2024 from N1,802.84 in July, although on a year-on-year basis , the price rose by 188.31% from N576.39 in August 2023.

Also, the data showed that the prices of beans, rice, bread, and eggs have continued to rise in Nigeria as the August headline and food inflation stood at 32.15% and 37.52% respectively. Muda Yusuf, the executive director of the Centre For the Promotion of Private Enterprise, urged the Nigerian government to speed up the 150-day zero-tariff waiver on rice, grain, sorghum, millet, maize, wheat and beans to ease the economic hardship on the masses.