March 7, 2024/CSL Research
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Nigeria through its selected food price watch for January 2024 reported steep increases in the average prices of essential food items that are widely consumed by Nigerians. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 4.4m people are food insecure in Nigeria mostly from the Northeast region and 26.5 million people across the country are projected to face acute hunger in the June-August 2024 lean season.
Food supply has over the years been impacted by violent conflicts, including the insurgency in the Northeast; armed banditry in the Northwest; perennial farmer– herder conflicts in the North Central and Southwest. Recently, local food supply has also been threatened further by the exportation of food supplies to other neighbouring countries as farmers seek higher bargains for their food produce.
In the selected food price watch report, the highest price increases were seen in poultry, fish, meat, flour and cooking oils. Recently, the removal of the subsidy on PMS, rising inflation and the depreciation of the Naira have caused an increase in the prices of farm inputs and transport costs which have translated to higher food prices.
Most of the frozen animal proteins consumed in Nigeria are imported from other countries and their import prices have been impacted by the depreciation of the Naira. Therefore, prices of frozen foods like chicken, titus, chicken wings, mackerel and sardine increased to N4,007.58/kg, N2,628.51/kg, N2,506.81/kg, N2,457.96/kg and N2,400.76/kg as of January 2024 from N2,754.45/kg, N1,733.57/kg, N1,390.99/kg, N1,602.21/kg and N1,601.10/kg as of January 2023. Likewise, Agric eggs were up 54.0% y/y to N1,309.75/kg in January 2024 from N850.49/kg in the prior year.
Noteworthy, prices of other staple food items like rice (imported), yam, bread (sliced and unsliced) and milk increased significantly in January 2024. Hefty levies imposed by terrorist groups and bandits on farmers in the country, ranging from N70,000 – N100,000 per farmland for permission to cultivate food and additional payments required for harvesting have caused locally produced food prices to increase.
Consequently, locally produced foods like beans, tomato, onion, plantain, garri (yellow and white) and maize (yellow and white) have also seen significant price increases. We believe the government must take proactive steps in 2024 to improve food production to avert a food crisis which could impact the health of the working population and further drag growth.
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