Nigerians spent over N22trn on food in 2019 — NBS

Nigerians spent exactly N22.78 trillion on food in 2019, a recent report released by StatiSense with data captured from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed.

In the report made available on Friday on the data consulting firm’s Twitter page, a breakdown of how that huge amount of money was spent on food consumption for 2019 was given.

In the statistical report titled “Consumption Expenditure Pattern in Nigeria,” the total expenditure, which comprises both food and non-food, was N40.21 trillion.

The report revealed that love for carbohydrates and other starchy roots, tubers, and plantains, which could have been influenced by Nigerian cultural values, could be the reason why Nigerians spent a whopping N2.53 trillion on that class of food. Examples of this class of food include Potatoes, yams, cassava, cocoyams, and many others.

Another class of food that, over the years, has become a favourite meal for over 90 percent of Nigerians is rice. After its introduction into our dietary makeup in the 1960s, Nigerians have grown to make this grain a compulsory part of our consumption pattern despite its astronomical increase in price over the years.

The report revealed that in that same year (2019), Nigerians spent N1.98 trillion, which represents 4.9 percent of the total expenditure on food. However, developing policies to encourage domestic production was perhaps the main focus of the agricultural policies of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

With the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) driving local capacity in rice production through the Anchor Borrowers scheme and several more, analysts at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have projected that Nigeria, which is the number one rice producer in Africa, can indeed be among the leading rice producers in the world by 2045 and beyond.

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The country’s deliberate steps to reduce its import bill on rice, which stood at N467.96 billion in 2020, are expected to reduce further and help drive employment and much-needed revenue for the government and those involved in its value chain.

Vegetables are another important dietary component of the N22.78 trillion spent on food by Nigerians. The report said that Nigerians spent N1.76 trillion on onions, tomatoes, okras, peppers, amaranthus, carrots, melons, Corchorus olitorus (ewedu), Hibiscus sabdariffa (sobo), and Adansonia digtata (baobab leaves) in 2019.

The report also showed that fish and seafood, grains and flours, meat, pulses, nuts, and seeds consumed exactly N1.33 trillion, N1.31 trillion, N1.19 trillion, and N1.16 trillion, respectively.

Others from the researcher state that fruits, oil and fats, baked/processed products, and poultry and poultry products took up exactly N1 trillion, N990 billion, N964 billion, and N880 billion of Nigerians income.