Common price making ready pot of jollof rice hits N21,579, 31% of minimal wage in September
The typical price of making ready a pot of jollof rice in Nigeria has risen to N21,579, consuming roughly 31% of the nation’s minimal wage (N70,000) in September.
That is based on a brand new report from SBM Intelligence titled The SBM Jollof Index: Disaster on the Menu, which was seen by Nairametrics on Thursday.
In keeping with the report, the typical price of making ready a pot of jollof rice in Nigeria rose by 5.1% from N20,274 in June.
This rise underscores the intensifying meals disaster in Nigeria, the place inflation and rising meals prices proceed to pressure households.
The report learn: “The typical price of cooking a pot of jollof rice in Nigeria rose from N20,274 in June to N21,300 in September, reflecting a 5.1% enhance. The costs of key substances akin to tomatoes and peppers, remained excessive in July, though the Index recorded solely a minor discount of N200.
“Our earlier Index highlighted how the costs of substances like tomatoes and peppers had surged by over 300% in June, and this solely barely relieved in July. By August, the nationwide common price of constructing a pot of jollof rice rose by an extra N390 and elevated additional by N1,181 in September”
Meals costs gulp as much as 97% of month-to-month incomes
The report additional famous that for a lot of Nigerians, meals costs devour between 65% to 97% of month-to-month incomes, far increased than the 11-12% typical in international locations just like the U.S. and the U.Ok.
It famous that this has led to public unrest, evidenced by a starvation protest the place residents expressed frustration over the hovering price of dwelling.
- The report attributes these worth surges to a number of components, together with insecurity, excessive vitality prices, and pure disasters.
- Gasoline costs, as an example, rose from N830 in August to N1,030 in September, driving up transport and meals storage bills. Equally, the price of cooking gasoline surged from round N14,200 in July to N16,500 by September.
- Additionally, the collapse of the Alan Dam in Borno in July resulted in extreme flooding throughout 29 states, affecting thousands and thousands and exacerbating agricultural losses, which impacted meals availability and costs.
- By way of market tendencies, whereas Onitsha and Kano markets noticed worth declines of as much as 13.2% and three.5%, respectively, Abuja’s Nyanya Market recorded a pointy 29.5% enhance attributable to provide chain disruptions and rising transport prices.
SBM Intelligence notes that regardless of momentary reductions in some ingredient prices, like tomatoes and peppers, the worth of staple gadgets stays largely out of attain for a lot of households.
Ghana’s expertise mirrors Nigeria’s in a number of methods, with meals inflation moderating barely to 19.1% in August earlier than climbing once more to 21.5% in September.
This volatility highlights a wider development throughout West Africa, the place inflationary pressures, foreign money depreciation, and excessive import prices proceed to influence meals safety.
SBM Intelligence stresses that with out important coverage intervention and structural changes to meals techniques, West African nations are prone to see extended instability in meals affordability and availability.
What you must know
Nigeria’s headline inflation fee in September 2024 rose to 32.70%, up from 32.15% in August 2024.
- This was based on the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Client Worth Index (CPI) report, which acknowledged that will increase in transportation prices and meals costs propelled inflation throughout the month.
- On a year-on-year foundation, the speed was 5.98%-points increased than the 26.72% recorded in September 2023, indicating a big enhance in inflation over the previous 12 months.
- Additionally, on a month-on-month foundation, the headline inflation fee in September 2024 was 2.52%, 0.30% increased than the two.22% recorded in August 2024. This means that the typical worth degree elevated at a quicker fee in September in comparison with August 2024.
- The meals inflation fee in September 2024 was 37.77% year-on-year, marking a rise of seven.13 share factors from the 30.64% recorded in September 2023.
On a month-on-month foundation, the meals inflation fee in September 2024 stood at 2.64%, reflecting a 0.27% rise in comparison with the two.37% recorded in August 2024.
