A report by SBM Intelligence has warned of the growing price of essential food commodities in the country.
The report, “The SBM Jollof Index” expressed concerns over the rising inflation in the country, describing the response of the government through policies as ‘comical’ and noting that these responses have led to even more people facing food insecurity.
According to SBM, ingredients used in preparing the popular food “jollof rice” are used to measure rising cost of food items in the country.
Some of the items used in the survey include, Rice, curry, thyme, seasoning, groundnut oil, turkey/chicken, beef, pepper, tomatoes, salt and Onions.
The average cost of making a pot of Jollof Rice, for a family of five went up from N8007.50 in Q3 2021 to N8595 at the end of Q1, 2022.
The price of eggs, another commodity, increased by 45.5% between march 2021 and 2022.
Items such as Onions have also increased in price due to reduction in supply blamed on insecurity in parts of the country.
Tomatoes, Vegetable Oil, Turkey and Beef have also seen big increases in price largely due to insecurity and IPOB sit-at-home, especially in the South Eastern Nigeria. The report further cited an instance of burning a Trailer filled with Cows as being responsible for surge in prices of beef, while perishables are affected by the Sit-at-home order, as traders are unable to sell their produce leading to spoilage and causing surge in price.
Other factors such as the closure of Kano Dam for repairs which affected irrigation has been blamed for the increase in price of essential food commodities.
Food importation has been projected to increase due to continued insecurity, storage problems and a growing population. Upward projections in importation continues unabated despite the government’s interventionary policies such as ‘Rice Pyramid’.
SBM noted that concerns on these increments is because these items are what Nigerians can afford, given that many persons have fallen under the poverty line.
The report also urged that the government investigate amongst other issues, why more than 10 companies in the food, drink and beverage industries have shut their businesses and operations in the country in the last seven years. It noted that insecurity and issues such as poor electricity, petroleum challenges have affected the food fortunes of the country.
The report warned that the projections of the Food and Agriculture Organisation might throw another five million Nigerians into the food crisis, up from the 14.4 million figure, if these issues are not tackled in good time.
Already, Nigeria’s inflation rate stands at 15.92% up from 15.7% recorded in February this year.