Ayodele Olalere
Stakeholders in the food sector, last Saturday, called on the government to address inflation and tackle the high cost of food materials so as to curb poverty in the country.
They spoke at the first edition of the Alimosho Food Festival held at the Youth Centre, Alimosho, Lagos State.
According to Chairman of the Organising Committee of the festival, Lawal Isiaka the event was organised to give opportunities to good vendors to showcase their products as well as allow consumers to purchase food at cheaper prices against the high cost in the market.
He further said Alimosho, being the largest local government in Lagos State was chosen because of its high population as it would afford more people the opportunity to benefit from the event.
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Lawal added high cost of food as well as food shortage have become a problem in Nigeria which should be addressed by the government. He therefore called on the government to tackle the problem so as to make life easier for Nigerians.
He added that the festival also afforded the organizers the opportunity to test run an application which would allow food vendors to market their goods online.
One of the vendors, Mrs. Omoluyi Esther, who deals in sales of local food commended the organizers for putting together the event.
She lamented the daily increase in food materials which she said is affecting many companies involved in food production.
“As small scale business owners, there are challenges we are facing such as daily increases in prices of food.
Today you buy something for N200 and tomorrow it goes up to N500. Government should try to make sure there is money in circulation and bring down prices of food stuff. In that way, they can address food scarcity,” she said.
Another vendor, Mrs Adekunle Olamide of Checkers Food said for the government to reduce poverty, ‘it should help to reduce in prices of goods.’
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“They should make sure there is stability in the economy. The instability is affecting all brands and they are finding it hard to get materials for production. When they increase prices of their goods, it’s the consumers that bear the brunt. So the government should help us stabilize Nigeria’s economy so that brands will find it easier to produce,” she urged.
A Nollywood star, Joseph Momodu, who was the special guest at the event commended the quality of food on display at the festival.
“The kind of food you see here , you might need to order them online before u get them but this event offers people the opportunity to get them at their doorsteps and cheaper. The festival is of great significance to everyone,” he said.
He added: ” There is hunger in the land. The government should help us subsidize food stuff to the nearest minimum to make food available. They should also control inflation especially the dollar scarcity so that the common man can do his or her business. They promised us that dollar will go down but it’s not so now. Government should do their business so that the masses can enjoy.”
TheCreative Director for the event, Adekoya Afeez commended the vendors for the quality of food products at the event and promised the festival will also be taken to other parts of the state.
