Food prices’ drop eases cost-of-living crisis

Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis has eased for the first time since President Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, offering an unexpected respite for households and a possibility of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s interest rate cut in the next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

In a survey of major markets in Nigeria, BusinessDay found that the average prices of some key staples declined in February 2025, easing the burden on cash-strapped Nigerians who have been dealing with accelerating inflation since the 2020 pandemic.

BusinessDay surveyed markets in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, finding that the average price of a 50 kg bag of foreign parboiled rice now sells for N85,000, depending on the brand and size of the grain as against N110,000 sold five months ago.

A 50kg of local parboiled rice now sells for an average of N95,000 in the city, compared to N105,000 sold three months ago.

The price of a big basket of fresh tomatoes has dropped 70 percent in Lagos from an average of N120,000 to N35,000. In 2024, Nigerians could not afford to buy tomatoes owing to the price surge that forced consumers to opt for alternatives like banga and paste, combined with dried pepper and beetroot.

Similarly, a 4-litre paint container of garri now sells for N2,500 from an average of N3,500 five months ago, indicating a 28.5 percent increase in price. A 60 kg bag of garri now sells for N37,500. In Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, and Onitsha, Anambra State, a big tuber of yam now sells for N2,500 as against N5,500 sold five months ago.

Read also: Food prices crash in North East

In Port Harcourt and Abuja, onion prices have dropped. It is now possible to buy six to 10 pieces of onion with N1000 as against three or four pieces at the same price three months ago.

“The drop in price of beans, yam and garri is a big relief for Nigerians, especially for low-income earners,” said Chinwe Okezie, a make-up artist at Ikosi–Ketu.

“But the prices still need to come down to the levels they were before subsidy removal and it should not just be on some food items but all,” Okezie noted.

She urged the government to provide more support for farmers to cultivate higher quantity of food and open the borders for the inflow of cheaper imported items.

Titilayo Adewunmi, a mother of four who was at Ketu Market to make purchases, said she can now afford to eat beans owing to the sharp drop in the prices of the legume after surging by over 300 percent within a year.

“The recent drop in beans prices and garri is a big relief for my family. The price decline has ensured we eat better now than before,” Adewunmi, who earns N80,000 as a secondary school teacher, said.

“We weren’t eating beans again as a cup was almost selling for N1,800 from N500 sold earlier,” she explained, noting that beans remain the cheapest form of protein for low-income earners.

Temporary drop?

However, farmers say the current drop in food prices will be temporary as prices of key farming inputs – fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides and seeds – continue to surge, with climate change impacts getting severe.

Niyi Ayoola, a carpenter and father of five, said the drop in some food prices is a big relief for households across the country, noting that most Nigerians were unable to feed last year owing to the price surge.

“We have been skipping meals to survive and this little drop is a respite for my family. However, the drop is still marginal, it has to be bigger,” he said.

Hunger bells ring

According to a November report by the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS), one in three Nigerian households cannot feed, with families skipping meals as they cannot afford enough food.

The report stated that the number of households that reported not having enough food to eat owing to a lack of money doubled to 62.4 percent in 2023 from 37 percent in 2019.

The country also saw its 2024 Global Hunger Index score rise to 28.8, ranking 110th out of 127 countries. The index termed the level of hunger in the country as ‘alarming.’

To further accelerate the decline in food prices across the country, experts say the government must allow the importation of food in the short term while addressing issues that hinder production and supply in the medium term.

According to them, the federal government will have to make a concerted effort to stem insecurity, drastically reduce post-harvest losses, fix structural deficiencies across the value chain and increase technology usage on farms to boost local food production in the long run.

Jude Obi, president of the Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria, said many farmers do not cultivate in places where they usually grow food owing to the worsening insecurity in the country.

“The government must address the issue of insecurity to drive down food prices to reasonable levels,” Obi, the general secretary of the Soil Science Society of Nigeria, said.