Food Prices and the Challenge of Food Security in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

High food prices are seen as synonymous with food insecurity. This is because it defiles one of the four cardinals of food security; food accessibility. To ensure the attainment of food security which is a common denominator in the United Nation’s MDGs and SDG as eradication of hunger, food must be economically accessible by all and sundry. Bayelsa State has been bedevilled by exorbitant food prices as confirmed by NBS data released in March 2020 which placed the state as having the highest cost in 15 out of 43 food items reviewed. This placed it as the state where food is most expensive in the federation. This study employing the tool purposive structured interview and schedule sought the view of 400 traders from five markets in the state capital, Yenagoa. Also 15 food truck drivers were interviewed. Using frequencies and percentages, the result showed that the key contributors to high food prices in the state are high dependence on food importation from within and outside the nation as the natives are not farmers, activities of touts, oil pollution, absence of large mechanized farms in the state, poor road network among others. The study strongly suggests the harmonisation of taskforce collecting agencies to eradicate multiple levies that are currently ongoing. It also suggested improved investment in agriculture by both public and private sectors with comparative advantage in mind to ensure that the potentials of the state in agriculture are adequately harnessed.