“The COVID-19 pandemic propelled the Federal Government to impose lockdown and movement restrictions as part of the efforts in containing the spread of the deadly virus in 2020.

“However, the chamber noted that these policies caused disruptions to activities in the country’s agricultural sector as farmers were unable to access their farmlands, thereby leading to supply shortage of agricultural output.

“The unfortunate situation prevented farmers from taking advantage of the planting season to grow crops.

“Consequently, the increased demand for agricultural products amid food supply shortage triggered food costs, as supply disruptions were further worsened by flood incidences.

“Which in turn affected some parts of producing states, destroying crops shortly before the harvest period.

“Currently, reports of a transportation gap from the North to other parts of the country, especially the Southwest would also serve to spike up the inflation rates from the height it already is at,”the report read.

Shedding more light on the development, LCCI’s Director-General, Dr Muda Yusuf, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the Northern region, which accounts for a major chunk of food production, was currently threatened by persistent security crisis.

This, he said, would greatly affect the food composite of the inflation index, a factor that greatly impacts the core inflation index.

Yusuf urged government to expend more efforts at addressing regional and ethnical discrepancies affecting the supply chain of farm produce from the northern parts to other regions of the country.