When the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest kicked off on August 1, some of the demands of the protesters included a reduction in the cost of food and the cost of living.
Before August, pockets of protests had sprung up in states like Niger, Osun, Kano, Oyo and Sokoto with residents storming the streets to voice their displeasure against the rising cost of food items.
Labour unions also protested in February, and one of the burning issues on their mind was the high cost of living. They wanted the government to “End Hunger and Poverty”.
October 16 is World Food Day, and nothing has changed between many Nigerians and access to food. Many Nigerians are hungry and angry because there is nothing they can do about food cost.
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FOOD INSECURITY IN NIGERIA
Considering that agriculture is a key economic activity in rural communities in Nigeria and that they are the primary producers of many farm crops distributed in cities, these rural areas should ideally have an advantage when it comes to food prices.
However, this is not the case. The September headline inflation data recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that food prices are almost as high in rural communities as in urban centres.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), food is the third most basic human need, and everyone should have the right to adequate food. But around 733 million people are facing hunger and more than 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet.
World Food Day. Source: FAO
In Nigeria, the picture is grimmer. An average Nigerian adult spent N786 per day to access healthy food in December 2023, according to the NBS’ diet indicator. By August 2024, the national average cost of a healthy diet for an adult was N1,255 per day.
Also, the average cost of a bowl of jollof rice for five persons which was N4,087 in 2015 had risen to N13,106 by September 2023. It rose to N16,955 in the first quarter of 2024.
According to the 2024 Global Hunger Index which ranked Nigeria 110 out of 127 countries, the level of hunger in this country is serious.
Source: Global Hunger Index.
A June 2024 report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) shows about 11 million children in Nigeria are experiencing severe child food poverty.
The 2024 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) also reveals that despite being one of the largest recipients of development assistance to the food sector, Nigeria is one of the top 10 countries with the highest number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Over 24 million Nigerians were in this situation as of 2023.
Source: GRFC
RISING COST OF LIVING
The World Bank Group stated that the number of people below the national poverty line in Nigeria rose from 79 million in 2018 to 104 million in 2023. And while the number of poor people in the urban areas jumped from 13 to 20 million, those in rural communities increased from 67 to 84 million.
Speaking with The Punch in September, economists predicted that more Nigerians will be further pushed into poverty. Based on World Bank projections, 40.7% of people in Nigeria may live below the international poverty line by the end of 2024.
The international poverty line is currently $2.15 per person a day, and anyone who spends less than this amount each day is considered to be living in extreme poverty. If the current figure on Worldometer is anything to go by, 40.7% of Nigeria’s 234 million population is 95 million. This means at least 95 million Nigerians are extremely poor.
Sources told FIJ that the prices of essential food items continue to soar. A bag of rice is currently priced between N75,000 and N84,000, while five litres of vegetable oil sell for between N11,000 and N12,000. A derica or congo of beans, depending on the variety, ranges from N3,500 to N5,000. While a bag of garri costs nearly N60,000, a crate of eggs is at least N5,500.
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For Bosede Adekanmi, a civil servant in Oyo State, her salary of N94,000 is barely enough to get by with the rising cost of food items.
“My salary is not enough to cover all my expenses. I spend at least N50,000 on food items. Fruits are so expensive, too. From buying gas to paying for electricity, and still spending on transport fare, among other expenses, it is not easy,” Adekanmi told FIJ on Wednesday.
Grace Oluwaseun, a Lagos State resident, equally recounted how she was forced to find an additional N2,000 that was not in her budget when she found that groundnut oil, which previously cost N9,000 in the market, had risen to N11,000.
“I did not have a choice but to buy it. It was not convenient, but it was a necessity, so I had to buy it,” said Oluwaseun.
She also noted how the price of pepper had tripled, and a bowl of tomatoes had risen from N5,000 to N10,000.
“I went to the market to get pepper and found that they had tripled the amount I got it the last time. A big bowl of tomatoes that I got for N5,000 had become N10,000 when I went to the market. Now, I am even hearing the price has increased again,” Oluwaseun added.
FIJ is also aware that the rising cost of living has led to an influx of beggars in Lagos. Many young people, along with thugs, keep harassing passersby for “small change” to survive amid the worsening economic hardship.
Some of these beggars hang around ATMs, restaurants, fast food outlets and shopping malls just to ask strangers for money to buy food.
The post Nigerians Speak of Rising Cost, Hunger on World Food Day appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.