Price Of Beans Soars In Port Harcourt

The Price of beans and other food items have increased in the Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt, in the last two months.

A 100-kilogramme bag of the commodity, our survey showed, rose by about 40 per cent, increasing from between N8,000 and N10,000 it was sold in January to between N13,500 and N16,000 in the metropolis.

Similarly, a basket of tomatoes rose from its January price of N5,000 to between N6,500 and N7,000.

However, prices of garri, rice and vegetable oil have remained stable in the city since the beginning of the year.

A 20-litre gallon of vegetable oil has continued to maintain its price of N4,200 just as a big bag of rice and garri remained at N8,700 and N1,400, respectively.

Mrs Ije Oyibo, a beans seller at Mile 1 market, attributed the high cost of the item to the insecurity in parts of the North.

According to her, the Boko Haram issue is disturbing everybody, including the farmers and the transporters who bring down the commodities to the state.

“The Season also contributed to it; once we enter into the wet season, the price may go further high.”

Also speaking, Mrs Josephine Udoh, a rice seller, said that rice maintained its January price because there was no festivity that would put the commodity in high demand.

Udoh explained that demand often affected the commodity even when most of them were imported.

Mrs Tina Nwike, a tomato seller, said that the price of a basket of tomatoes was prone to daily fluctuation as the supply could not always be determined.

According to her, it is a perishable commodity so it is harvested and transported on a daily basis and the rate of the harvest determines the price.

“That is why, today, the price may be very high and tomorrow, it could come down very low and may rise again the following day.”