{"id":1042,"date":"2026-07-13T06:18:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T05:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1042"},"modified":"2026-07-13T06:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T05:29:15","slug":"rising-costs-of-food-ingredients-abraka-food-vendors-a-story-from-mama-ngozis-kitchen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1042","title":{"rendered":"Rising Cos Of Food Ingredients: Abraka Food Vendors, A Story From Mama Ngozi’s kitchen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Gift Okhiria<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aroma of jollof rice and egusi soup usually draws a steady stream of
customers to Mrs.Ngozi Okoro\u2019s popular local eatery, “Mama Ngozi\u2019s Kitchen,”located near the
Delta State University campus in Abraka.However, these days, the bustling lunch crowd is
noticeably thinner, and the smile on Mama Ngozi\u2019s face is often tinged with worry. “Every day,
it\u2019s a new price for ingredients,” she lamented during an interview on Tuesday, gesturing towards her half-empty pots. “Garri, rice, oil, meat, even pepper \u2013everything has gone up. How
do I survive?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Okoro, a seasoned food vendor with over two decades of experience, explained that the
removal of fuel subsidies has had a domino effect on her business. “My suppliers now charge
more for transport, which means I pay more for raw materials. Before, a bag of rice was
N30,000 ;now it\u2019sN70,000. A carton of frozen fish was N25,000; now it\u2019s overN50,000,” she
stated, shaking her head. To maintain her profit margins, she has had to incrementally increase
the prices of her meals, a decision she takes with a heavy heart. “My customers are mostly
students and civil servants. Their salaries haven’t increased, so they can’t afford to eat as much as
before,” she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A student, Mr. Emeka Nwachukwu, who frequents MamaNgozi\u2019s, confirmed the struggle. “I used
to eat here almostevery day, but now I have to ration. A plate of food that costN500 now costs
N800 or N1,000. It’s tough,” he said, nursinga bottle of water. Mrs. Okoro has tried to absorb
some of thecosts, reducing portion sizes slightly and seeking cheapersuppliers, but the relentless
rise in inflation makes it a dailybattle. “I wake up praying for things to get better, but eachday
brings new challenges,” she concluded, her voicereflecting the weariness of many small business
owners inAbraka. The situation highlights the severe strain placed onthe informal sector, a
critical employer and provider ofessential services in communities like Abraka (CBN, 2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gift Okhiria The aroma of jollof rice and egusi soup usually draws a steady stream ofcustomers to Mrs.Ngozi Okoro\u2019s popular local eatery, “Mama Ngozi\u2019s Kitchen,”located near theDelta State University campus in Abraka.However, these days, the bustling lunch crowd isnoticeably thinner, and the smile on Mama Ngozi\u2019s face is often tinged with worry. “Every day,it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[31,25,266,265],"class_list":["post-1042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abrakametro","category-trendingnews","tag-abraka","tag-delsu","tag-food-business","tag-mama-ngozi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1042"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1054,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042\/revisions\/1054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}