Rising food prices may continue, if — LCCI

THE Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has warned that the end to the rising food prices being experienced in Nigeria, may not be in sight yet, if the global disruptions to supply chains do not quickly come to end.

The President of the Chamber, Mr. Gabriel Idahosa stated this, on Thursday, in his State of The Economy Address, to the media in Lagos.

The Chamber argued that the threat of escalations in the Middle East remains a deep concern for the global economy, especially the persisting war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas-Iran war, and the emerging threats to shipments through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, which have continued to challenge the supply change, in recent times.

It added that while the nation’s economy grew by 3.46% (year-on-year) in the fourth quarter, it was however threatened, in the first quarter of 2024, by the volatility in the forex market, resulting in high cost of production.

The business advocacy group therefore noted that with the average growth of 2.7 percent, recorded in 2023, the economy requires an aggressive growth mechanism to achieve the budget benchmark of 3.76 percent.

One of such, the Chamber added, is the need to decentralise agricultural activities, presently over-concentrated on crop farming, to include poultry and fisheries.

“The concentration of agricultural activities in crop farming is not desirable as these have come under challenges like farmer herder crisis, kidnappings and insecurity of farmlands.

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