Nigeria is enduring rising food costs and high unemployment
Half the population lives on less than $2 a day, and the pandemic has robbed 70% of Nigerians of some form of income
16 April 2021 - 11:47
byAnthony Osae-Brown and Ruth Olurounbi
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A man dispenses hand sanitiser at Eagle Square in Abuja, Nigeria. Picture: REUTERS/AFOLABI SOTUNDE
Lagos/Abuja — Nigerian merchant Feyintola Bolaji, struggling with stagnant earnings and dwindling sales, is now being squeezed by the ever increasing prices demanded by her food suppliers, leading her to cut down on the amount she can put on her family’s table.
Bolaji’s belt-tightening is being shared by millions across Africa’s most populous nation. Not long after Nigeria’s statistics agency revealed that one in three people in the continent’s largest economy were unemployed, on Thursday it announced that food inflation has accelerated at the highest pace in 15 years, compounding the misery of many households.
“It is really bad, I can’t simply afford to give my children what they really need in terms of food,” said Bolaji, a mother of three based in the southwestern city of Ibadan. “I try to make them get the nutrients they need as growing children, but it is not enough. I have had to cut down on meat and fish.”
Insurgency, unrest, and President Muhammadu Buhari’s government’s stand on food imports in a nation where more than half the population lives on less than $2 a day, are issues worsening food insecurity. Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has robbed 70% of Nigerians of some form of income, according to a Covid-19 impact survey published by the statistics agency last month.
Food inflation rose to 22.95% in March, caused by wide-ranging price increases across items such as cereals, yam, meat, fish and fruits. Those soaring costs have been in part blamed on a worsening conflict between farmers and herders in Nigeria’s agriculture belt that the Buhari has struggled to quash.
The unrest, combined with the more than decade-long Boko Haram insurgency in the north, a weakening currency and higher fuel prices have also contributed to rising food prices, according to SBM Intelligence, a Nigerian research firm.
The situation has also been exacerbated by import restrictions on certain staples, such as rice, that have remained in place despite Buhari reopening Nigeria’s land borders in December following a 16-month shutdown in an attempt to end rampant smuggling.
Food prices will remain elevated until the security crisis, which has prevented farmers from returning to their land, is resolved, said Cheta Nwanze, a lead partner with SBM Intelligence. That’s “unless the government does the sensible thing and allows food imports to happen”, he said.
Until then, Nigerians, who already spend more than half their earnings on food, have had to cut down. Just more than 50% of all households reported reduced consumption between July and December in 2020 due to the twin pressures of falling wages and rising food costs, according to Nigeria’s statistics agency.
Kemi Adedigba, a freelance writer living in Lagos, the country’s financial hub, is among those who has been hit by that double-whammy. Adedigba has two teenagers to feed, but is struggling with a steady drop in work even as her monthly food bill has climbed by almost 70% since December.
“You are lucky if you get recurring gigs with the way the economy is going down the toilet,” she said. “It is a nightmare.”
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Nigeria is enduring rising food costs and high unemployment
Half the population lives on less than $2 a day, and the pandemic has robbed 70% of Nigerians of some form of income
Lagos/Abuja — Nigerian merchant Feyintola Bolaji, struggling with stagnant earnings and dwindling sales, is now being squeezed by the ever increasing prices demanded by her food suppliers, leading her to cut down on the amount she can put on her family’s table.
Bolaji’s belt-tightening is being shared by millions across Africa’s most populous nation. Not long after Nigeria’s statistics agency revealed that one in three people in the continent’s largest economy were unemployed, on Thursday it announced that food inflation has accelerated at the highest pace in 15 years, compounding the misery of many households.
“It is really bad, I can’t simply afford to give my children what they really need in terms of food,” said Bolaji, a mother of three based in the southwestern city of Ibadan. “I try to make them get the nutrients they need as growing children, but it is not enough. I have had to cut down on meat and fish.”
Insurgency, unrest, and President Muhammadu Buhari’s government’s stand on food imports in a nation where more than half the population lives on less than $2 a day, are issues worsening food insecurity. Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has robbed 70% of Nigerians of some form of income, according to a Covid-19 impact survey published by the statistics agency last month.
Food inflation rose to 22.95% in March, caused by wide-ranging price increases across items such as cereals, yam, meat, fish and fruits. Those soaring costs have been in part blamed on a worsening conflict between farmers and herders in Nigeria’s agriculture belt that the Buhari has struggled to quash.
The unrest, combined with the more than decade-long Boko Haram insurgency in the north, a weakening currency and higher fuel prices have also contributed to rising food prices, according to SBM Intelligence, a Nigerian research firm.
The situation has also been exacerbated by import restrictions on certain staples, such as rice, that have remained in place despite Buhari reopening Nigeria’s land borders in December following a 16-month shutdown in an attempt to end rampant smuggling.
Food prices will remain elevated until the security crisis, which has prevented farmers from returning to their land, is resolved, said Cheta Nwanze, a lead partner with SBM Intelligence. That’s “unless the government does the sensible thing and allows food imports to happen”, he said.
Until then, Nigerians, who already spend more than half their earnings on food, have had to cut down. Just more than 50% of all households reported reduced consumption between July and December in 2020 due to the twin pressures of falling wages and rising food costs, according to Nigeria’s statistics agency.
Kemi Adedigba, a freelance writer living in Lagos, the country’s financial hub, is among those who has been hit by that double-whammy. Adedigba has two teenagers to feed, but is struggling with a steady drop in work even as her monthly food bill has climbed by almost 70% since December.
“You are lucky if you get recurring gigs with the way the economy is going down the toilet,” she said. “It is a nightmare.”
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