The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that food scarcity, insecurity, and escalating prices have compelled many Nigerian households to cut back on consumption.
According to the latest General Household Survey Panel (Wave 5), conducted in collaboration with the World Bank, 65% of households are unable to afford healthy meals due to financial constraints.
The report highlighted that 71% of households experienced significant impacts from rising food prices, while more than a third faced food shortages over the past year, particularly during the months of June, July, and August, worsening the food insecurity crisis.
The survey revealed that 48.8% of households reduced their food intake as a coping mechanism.
“In the past 12 months, over one-third of households experienced food shortages, particularly during June, July, and August. Price increases on major food items affected 71% of households,” the report noted.
The findings also showed a significant rise in food insecurity, with the proportion of households worried about insufficient food increasing from 36.9% in Wave 4 (2019) to 62.4% in Wave 5.
The NBS noted that more than half of Nigerian households now struggle to meet dietary needs, with 65.8% reporting an inability to afford healthy or preferred meals in the last 30 days. Additionally, 63.8% of households consumed only a limited variety of foods, 60.5% ate less than they felt they needed, and 12.3% reported that at least one family member went without food for an entire day.
Furthermore, 20.8% of households resorted to borrowing food or seeking help from friends or relatives.
Geographically, food insecurity indicators were more pronounced in the southern zones of Nigeria. For instance, the proportion of households skipping meals ranged from 50.1% in the South-West to 62.4% in the South-East, compared to 34.0% in North-Central and 48.3% in the North-East.
The South-South zone recorded the highest levels of food insecurity across five of eight indicators, while North-Central reported the lowest rates in six of the eight indicators.
