Yuletide: Prices of food items drop by 30%

Following the bumper harvest of some agricultural produce, prices of perishable food items like tomatoes, pepper and onions have dropped by 30 per cent across major markets in Lagos.
Findings by The Point revealed that the prices of the items at Mile 12, Ile-Epo, and Oko Oba/Abbatoir markets dropped between 25 and 30 per cent.
For instance, a basket of tomatoes, which was previously sold for N18, 000 now sells for N13, 000, while red pepper (tatashe) now costs N8,000 compared to its previous price of N12, 000
a basket.
A basket of chilli pepper (rodo) also reduced from N18, 000 to N10, 000 and a jute bag of onions, which previously cost N30, 000, now goes for N20, 000.
A 25-litre of vegetable oil, which previously sold for N11, 500, now costs N11, 500. Palm oil too decreased from N11, 000 to N10, 300, while a measure of garri now costs N400.
The spokesperson, Mile 12 Market Traders Association, Mr Femi Odusanya, said, “Over 20 per cent of the annual four million metric tonnes of tomatoes produced in the country is supplied to Mile 12 Market annually and redistributed to over 400 markets in Lagos and Ogun states and six other ECOWAS countries.
“Presently, the supply of the produce is more than the demand because farmers commenced harvest in December and there would be surplus in the market till April when the harvest season would end.
“That is why we have been advocating for increased investment in tomato processing plant to mop up the excess and reduce waste, create jobs and increase contribution to the Gross Domestic Product,” he said.