Nigeria’s misery Index continues to worsen with the escalating food prices that has left many households going to bed with empty stomachs.
The latest report on selected Food Price Watch for March 2024 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), shows that the average price of 1kg Rice local sold loose stood at N1,340.74 in March 2024. This indicates a rise of 152.93 percent in price on a year-on-year basis from N530.08 recorded in March 2023. On a month-on-month basis, the increase was 9.63 percent when compared to the price of N1,222.97 it was in February 2024.
The report also shows that the average price of 1kg of Beef boneless increased by 73.78 percent on a year-on-year basis from N2,479.61 in March 2023 to N4,309.16 in March 2024. On a month-on-month basis, the average price of this item increased by 17.91 percent from N3,654.56 in February 2024.
The price of other food items like beans rose by 106.78 percent on a year-on-year basis from N596.96 in March 2023 to N1234.40 in March 2024. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 4.79 percent from N1,177.93 in March 2024.
Similarly, the average price of 1kg of Garri white, sold loose rose by 112.34 percent on a year-on-year basis from N353.16 in March 2023 to N749.89 in March 2024, while there was an increase of 3.66 percent on a month-on-month basis.
In addition, the average price of 1kg of Yam tuber rose by 141.25 percent on a year-on-year basis from N443.02 in March 2023 to N1,068.78 in March 2024. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 5.87 percent from N1,009.56 in February 2024 to N1,068. in March 2024.
The NBS had reported that it costs an average of N938 to prepare a single healthy diet for an adult per day in Nigeria, a situation that has forced many households to resort to just anything just to survive.
Nigeria is suffering from the worst case of food inflation in history which in the month of March 2024 hit an all-time time high of 40.01 percent.
Stakeholders have often blamed the situation on the insecurity that has made it impossible for farmers to go to their farms and the high cost of transportation occasioned by the hike in the prices of diesel and fuel.