Urban areas cut off from food supply

THE fresh produce industry is being affected as local food supply chains are broken, an official says.
Fresh Produce Development Agency general manager Mark Worinu, while appreciating Government’s stand on Covid-19 to protect the country, said people in urban centres were being affected by the shortage of supply and struggling with the high price of local produce.
“For example, the fresh supply chain from the Highlands to coastal regions has been broken as quality produce are not being transported to markets,” he told The National yesterday. “This is a threat to food security for consumers in the towns and cities and will have a detrimental effect on the fresh food industry.
“It is good to see though that people in the villages are able to help themselves with their local produce and supply for self-consumption and for sale at village markets.”
But Worinu said they needed seeds and planting materials.
He said about 70 per cent of the staple foods were root crops.
Worinu said the restrictions were crippling the industry because it was cutting off farmers.