{"id":1262,"date":"2026-07-13T22:48:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T21:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1262"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:48:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T21:48:36","slug":"rising-food-prices-deepen-economic-hardship-for-abraka-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1262","title":{"rendered":"Rising Food Prices Deepen Economic Hardship For Abraka Residents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By<\/strong> Perpetual<\/strong> Obasi <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost of food in Abraka has continued to rise sharply, leaving many households, students, and low-income earners struggling to cope with the increasing burden of feeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A market survey conducted at Abraka Main Market revealed significant increases in the prices of staple foods such as rice, beans, garri, yam, tomatoes, pepper, vegetables and vegetable oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traders and buyers who spoke with our correspondent described the situation as unbearable, saying the continuous hike is making it difficult for average families to meet their daily needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Helen Okafor, a foodstuff dealer at the market, attributed the rise in prices to the increasing cost of transportation and the general economic situation in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that prices now change almost every week and that suppliers are no longer selling at the rates they used to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy sister, market no easy again. Every week na price dey change. Transport cost don high and suppliers no dey sell cheap again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another trader, Mrs. Faith Umeh, who sells tomatoes, explained that transporting food items from Northern Nigeria to Delta State has become more expensive due to high fuel costs and the poor condition of roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that some goods spoil before they get to the market, which also contributes to the increase in prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes the transport money fit pass wetin we expect. Some goods even spoil before dem reach market and that one dey affect price too,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buyers at the market also expressed frustration over the development. Chinedu Eze, a resident, lamented that the same amount of money that used to buy plenty food items now buys only a fraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore, if person carry \u20a610,000 come market, e go buy plenty things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, that same money no fit buy half of wetin e dey buy before. Feeding family don become serious challenge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Findings by our correspondent showed that a bag of rice now sells between \u20a670,000 and \u20a690,000 depending on the brand and quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prices of garri, beans and other staples have also gone up significantly compared to previous months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, many consumers have resorted to buying food items in smaller quantities in order to manage their limited income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the market, it was observed that buyers were purchasing half derica of beans, a mudu of garri, and single pieces of yam instead of bags and baskets as was previously common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The development has also generated reactions on social media. On X, formerly Twitter, a user identified as Toby (@TomolaGroup) lamented the continuous rise in food prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The user stated that since January 2026, food inflation has continued to outpace headline inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the post, food inflation in April 2026 stood at 2.06 percent while headline inflation was 1.86 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another user recalled that there was a time when 1kg of turkey sold for \u20a6800, a derica of rice was \u20a6100 and a loaf of bread was \u20a6150, expressing frustration over how much things have changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economists have warned that the continued rise in food prices could have serious implications for households and the local economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a larger portion of income is spent on food, families have less to spend on education, healthcare, transportation and other essential needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, they say, could slow down economic activities in communities like Abraka where a large part of the population depends on daily earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents are now appealing to the federal and state governments to take urgent steps to address the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They called for improved transportation infrastructure, support for local farmers, and policies that will reduce the cost of fuel and logistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traders also urged the government to intervene in stabilizing the market so that both buyers and sellers can cope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, both traders and consumers in Abraka say they are hoping for a turnaround that will make food more affordable and ease the pressure on household budgets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Perpetual Obasi The cost of food in Abraka has continued to rise sharply, leaving many households, students, and low-income earners struggling to cope with the increasing burden of feeding. A market survey conducted at Abraka Main Market revealed significant increases in the prices of staple foods such as rice, beans, garri, yam, tomatoes, pepper, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":27,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trendingnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1262","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1263,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1262\/revisions\/1263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}