News in brief: Bandits activities in rural areas of Nigeria’s Zamfara State has led to a surge in food prices as dealers avoid purchasing foodstuffs from affected areas, causing shortages in urban areas. The increased cost of food commodities, coupled with transportation challenges, is affecting the state’s residents, especially the poor and vulnerable.
The price of food commodities has soared in Nigeria’s Zamfara State due to the increase in bandits activities in rural areas, a news report finds.
It claims that food item dealers have stopped going to these areas to purchase foodstuffs, causing shortages in urban areas. Instead, they are resorting to buying from neighboring states, which has driven up food prices by up to 35% in some cases.
For example, a measure of rice that used to be about â¦1700 or â¦1750 rose to between â¦2000 and â¦2400 within a couple of months.
The Chairman of Rice Sellers Association at Yar Dole market, Muhammad Yusuf, noted the increase in transportation fares as well. He said this was due to the difficulties the drivers were facing in conveying food items to Gusau, the state’s capital.
Additionally, he explained that food prices would drop, if the government could provide security in the villages and towns producing large quantities of harvest.
The insecurity has also affected the duration needed to supply goods. Trips that would take a dealer two days to go to a village and buy harvests now exceeds a week or more. The drivers time their trips on the nature of bandits’ operations in the area.
Areas like Dan-Gulbi, Dan-Sadau, Magami, Yar-Tasaha, Kango, Kurar Mota and Gobirawa are among the areas where dealers are facing difficulties in bringing crops from. For example, the report said that only 20% of the community of Yar-Tasha village was able to cultivate their farms this year, which has caused a serious shortage of farm produce in the area.
The activities of bandits in Zamfara State is having a negative impact on the people of the state, especially the poor and vulnerable. They struggle to buy food items amidst the tightening economy of the country.
The state government claims to be working to address the issue. Analysts however believe that it may take a while to restore normalcy to the food supply chain.
