NAIRAMETRICS
The cost of cooking a pot of jollof rice in Nigeria for a family continues to rise, as families witnessed a 12.7% bump in costs to N12,373 from ₦10,882 in the first quarter of the year.
This was disclosed in socioeconomic research from, SBM Intelligence in its Jollof report for the second quarter of 2023, titled “Hungry for Change”, viewed by Nairametrics.
They added that the costs of making jollof rice in Nigeria were affected to varying degrees by two crucial policy choices, including the removal of petrol subsidies and the devaluation of the Naira, to unify the exchange rate and attempt to remove arbitrage in the system.
Costs
According to the report, the average cost of making a pot of Jollof rice across the 13 markets in Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones grew.
- “Between March and June, the average cost of making a pot of jollof rice for a family of five has increased from ₦10,882 to ₦12,373 an increase of 13.7%.
- “Month on month, prices increased by 4.7% between March and April, 2.79% between April and May, and 5.6% between May and June.
- “The rapid price increases in April were caused by the lagging effects of the flooding and the cash redesign policy.
- “Also, widespread rumors of the incoming administration’s intention to remove fuel subsidies held prices up.
- “However, these rumors were not baseless, as all the major presidential candidates had highlighted in their manifestos their plans to eliminate the fuel subsidy due to its unsustainable nature. Despite some anticipation, Nigerians needed to be adequately prepared for the full extent of the policy’s impact, especially when combined with the compounded effect of the harmonized exchange rate.
Protein and Tomatoes
The 2 main ingredients necessary for cooking a pot of Jollof after Rice are flesh protein and tomatoes, which affected the increase due to factors including the naira redesign and the removal of subsidy, SBM said:
- “One of our interviewees noted that her family had long migrated from turkey to chicken, then to beef, innards, and now mostly pomo (cow skin) and eggs. But these alternatives are also getting costlier.
- “In May, despite experiencing a supply glut of up to 20 million unsold eggs, the price of eggs in the country did not come down; it sold for about ₦100 in most parts of the country because of the impact of forex restriction on the purchase of maize – one of the inputs in poultry feed.
They added that despite the glut’s historical precedents, the increased patronage of eggs as substitutes for other forms of protein makes this year’s episode very impactful.
On Tomatoes, the report revealed that There has also been a notable increase in the cost of fresh tomatoes.
- “Apart from jollof rice, fresh tomatoes are used for making another widely consumed staple across the country – rice and stew, and it also forms a part of local soups and cuisines in some regions.
- “From selling a custard pail of tomatoes for ₦1,500 as of January this year, the cost has increased to ₦6,000 at the time of the survey, especially in urban markets. Farmers complain of the poor yields due to floods late last year.
