That was the punchline from a tired trader at Mile 12 last week. Nobody laughed, because these days, it’s not a joke. 

A kilogram of beef now sells between ₦6,500 and ₦8,000, nearly double what it cost just 18 months ago. Turkey is ₦9,500 per kilo, while chicken clings to ₦6,000 like it’s still affordable. For most Nigerians, meat is no longer part of daily life. It has become a rare treat, or a symbol of suffering.

As of May 2025, Nigeria’s food inflation stood at 21.14% year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Just last year, in June 2024, it hit a frightening 40.87%, the highest in decades. 

The result is that the average household now spends more than 60% of its income just trying to eat. And yet, they’re eating less.

This is beyond beef or turkey, it’s about what happens to a society when protein, the most basic fuel for life, becomes a luxury item.

A Plate Half Full — Or Half Empty?

The World Bank warned that Nigerians were already spending over half their income on food in 2022. Two years later, we’ve crossed 60%. The pressure is breaking families. A 2024 survey by SBM Intelligence found that 72% of Nigerians have either reduced or completely removed meat from their diets due to cost.

And this is not a temporary adjustment, it’s a long-term slide. Per capita meat consumption in Nigeria is projected to drop to 18.3 kg in 2025, a noticeable dip from 20.1 kg in 2023. And while the overall meat market is expected to reach 4.97 billion kg by 2030, that growth is slowing. Demand is growing, but affordability is collapsing.

The street food industry is already feeling the impact, with vendors across Lagos and Abuja reporting a 30–40% drop in demand for meat-based dishes. “People still want suya,” one vendor said. “But now they just buy the pepper and onions.”

What’s Behind This Food Crisis?

This is both a price hike and a structural breakdown. Several overlapping forces are pushing meat, and food in general, out of reach:

• Currency devaluation: The naira has lost significant value, making imported meat products and feed more expensive.
• Insecurity in food-producing regions: Herdsmen-farmer conflicts, kidnappings, and rural banditry have disrupted beef and poultry supply chains.
• Input inflation: Feed, fertilisers, and farm inputs have more than doubled in cost since fuel subsidies ended.
• Policy failures: Agricultural programmes like the Anchor Borrowers’ Scheme promised self-sufficiency. But with just 0.8% expected annual growth in meat production till 2028, the reality has fallen far short.

Worse still, Nigeria is still importing large volumes of processed meat. That makes local prices vulnerable to exchange rate shocks and international market disruptions. We are importing problems we should be solving.

What Happens When a Country Can’t Afford Protein?

This is no longer limited to hunger, national health and productivity are involved.

Children are growing up with protein deficiencies. The long-term effects? Stunted growth, weak immune systems, and reduced cognitive development. Adults are not spared. Malnutrition is becoming an epidemic, even among the employed.

What used to be “pepper soup” is now just “pepper.” Rice and stew? Most times, no meat. Egg? Nonsense, ₦250 for one? Try beans.

We’re now watching a silent decline in national nutrition. It’s not loud, it doesn’t trend like fuel price hikes, but it’s dangerous.

Adapting or Settling?

To cope, many households are now turning to cheaper, plant-based substitutes. Beans, soybeans, groundnuts, they’re cheaper, yes, but not always nutritionally complete. People are adapting, but is this adaptation, or quiet surrender?

There’s also something more subtle happening; cultural loss. In Nigeria, meat is more than food, it’s tradition, it’s hospitality, it’s celebration. Now, hosts apologise for not serving meat. Weddings ration chicken. Children grow up not knowing what “titus” fish tastes like.

Food is Now a Class Divider

With protein vanishing from people’s plates, it becomes a sign of privilege. In gated estates and on Instagram, meals are still loaded with goat meat, grilled chicken, prawns. But in the trenches, people scrape pots for flavour. Bread now costs ₦1,700. The average market woman doesn’t buy loaves anymore, she buys slices.

This is how inequality begins to taste.

What Can Be Done?

This crisis demands more than condolences. Nigeria must rethink its food systems urgently.

• Invest in local feed production: If we can reduce feed import dependency, poultry and livestock prices will drop.
• Secure farming zones: No farmer will raise animals if they fear being killed or kidnapped.
• Modernise storage and transport: Post-harvest losses are killing the little we produce.
• Subsidise essential inputs: Support for fertilisers, hatcheries, and cold chains will help reduce price pressures.

More importantly, food security should no longer be treated as an agricultural problem. It is a national emergency. No nation develops while its citizens are hungry.

Finally

When meat becomes a luxury, hope follows closely behind.

It is not only food that is shrinking on our plates, it is our pride, our dignity, our sense of worth.

We must stop pretending this is normal. It is not.

We used to ask, “Is there meat in the soup?”
Now we ask, “Is there soup at all?”

The post Meat is Now a Luxury: Nigeria’s Shrinking Plate and the Fate of Food appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The organisation disclosed this in its 2024 Cadre Harmonise report, published in collaboration with other development partners including GIZ.

The report pointed out that the surge in food commodity prices occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy, as well as security challenges, had further placed millions of Nigerians in a precarious situation.

During their joint review meeting on the Implementation of the Food Systems in Nigeria, the stakeholders advocated a multi-sectoral approach of collaboration to tackle food insecurity.

They stressed that the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the private sector must play a role to complement nutrition efforts.

The partners further pledged their unalloyed support to transform the food system in Nigeria.

While earlier declaring the meeting open, Dr. Emeka Obi, permanent secretary, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, said the objective of the meeting was to discuss the status of the implementation and for the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to make presentations in addition to giving updates on the activities implemented for the food transformation pathways, in Nigeria.

In a statement by the Director, Julie Osagie-Jacobs, press and public relations in the Ministry, the permanent secretary, appreciated the support of development partners, particularly GIZ and others for their dedication in moving the food system forward in Nigeria while noting that their collective efforts would continually lead to innovative solutions that would strengthen the food systems.

Also, Dr. Sanjo Faniran, the national convenor of Food Systems in Nigeria/Director, Social Development, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, hailed all stakeholders for their dedication in moving the food system forward.

He added that the review meeting was also to identify gaps, successes and challenges, offer recommendations as well as peer review, among MDAs. A total of 24 MDAs attended the review meeting. (Thisdaylive.com)

The post 31.8 Million Nigerians Facing Food Insecurity – Report appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This sector, encompassing crop production, livestock, forestry, and fishing, has the potential to hold export opportunities and can strategically become the engine for economic prosperity, given Nigeria’s large population.

Undoubtedly, agriculture remains a top contributor to Nigeria’s GDP. Statistics show it contributed around 23.69% in 2022, ranking behind the industry (30.78%) and services (22.04%) sectors. However, the sector’s contribution has declined.

In the first quarter of 2023, it fell to 19.63%, compared to 21.09% in the same period of 2022 and even lower than the 24.90% of Q4 2022. On sectoral contribution to the GDP, the agriculture sector declined to 25.18% in 2023 from 25.58% in 2022.

In recent times, the agricultural sector in Nigeria has faced challenges that would require urgent need for strategic interventions to address the many-sided issues.

2023 revealed a historic decline in Nigeria’s agricultural output, from the removal of fuel subsidies that increased the cost in logistics and production expenses to insecurity that has forced farmers to stay away from their farms, climate change, the redesign of the Naira, inadequate storage infrastructure,  insecurity led to the country’s food inflation that surged to 35.41% in January 2024.

While a holistic approach is needed to tackle the problems facing the agricultural sector in Nigeria, the adoption of technology and innovation can prove to be a powerful tool in tackling the food insecurity in Nigeria and ensuring the citizens have access to the nutritious food that they need especially from smallholder farmers.

Digital marketplaces are tech solutions that can bridge the food security challenges in Nigeria. Smallholder farmers often have limited access to markets, struggling to connect with buyers, leading to post-harvest losses and reduced income.

They lack efficient distribution networks and constantly work with distribution systems that can be complex and prone to waste.

Additionally, farmers lack critical information on market prices, weather conditions and best practices.

Digital marketplaces have the potential to revolutionise the Nigerian food system and address food insecurity by connecting farmers directly with consumers and businesses, reducing reliance on middlemen and increasing profit margins for farmers.

Logistics can be streamlined by connecting farmers with transportation and storage providers, minimising waste and ensuring timely delivery.

Additionally, there is an opportunity for enhanced transparency between farmers and consumers especially with respect to pricing, reducing exploitation and promoting fairer pricing.

Market trends are also easily available through digital marketplace platforms to make farmers make informed decisions.

Nigerian Agritech companies and start-ups are dedicated to helping farmers achieve maximum crop yield through their work.

Foodstuff Store exemplifies this commitment, utilising technology to connect customers and businesses with raw and processed food products directly from smallholder farmers and whole food suppliers at affordable prices, adding value to the food supply chain. 

Despite the potential, challenges remain. Limited internet access, digital literacy, inadequate infrastructure hindering deliveries, online security concerns, and trust issues for both farmers and consumers need to be addressed.

Investment in rural infrastructure, digital literacy programs, public-private partnerships to promote digital agriculture, and access to financial services like mobile money can create a more efficient, inclusive, and resilient food system.

A tech-driven agricultural sector has the potential to not only eradicate hunger but also empower farmers, create jobs, and propel Nigeria towards a food-secure future.

The post How Tech Can Tackle Food Security Challenges in Nigeria appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Kashifu Inuwa, the director general made this known while receiving representatives from USAID led by Josh Woodard, senior digital advisor, Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security, at the Agency’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja.

The purpose of the visit was to have a rapid landscape assessment of digital agriculture in Nigeria and partner with NITDA.

Inuwa said, “One of President Tinubu’s areas of focus is boosting agriculture to achieve food security, and at NITDA we were set up to develop the National IT Policy, and IT policy is not just about developing IT but developing IT to boost productivity across all critical sectors including agriculture.”

“That is why we do a lot of initiatives in trying to see how we can build an agriculture Strategy with IT in mind and make it a more attractive business to the younger generation,” he added.

Inuwa stated that NITDA has identified six emerging technologies, that will aid in achieving food security in Nigeria.

He said “We have an  Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy co-creation workshop going on, which started on Monday, where we are working with the ecosystem to develop a strategy on how to use AI in agriculture, health, education, and so on.

“We are working on how to use the Internet of Things, (IoT) in agriculture for crop monitoring, soil monitoring, precision irrigation, climate monitoring livestock monitoring, and so on.”

“We are working using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, (UAVs) to facilitate pest detection, water control, yield assessment, and so on.”

We are working on using Blockchain for the traceability of farm produce from farm to store, record keeping, quality assurance, and so on.”

“We are working on using Robotics to enhance productivity in agriculture in terms of automation of physical farm processing like weeding, harvesting, tractors, and many more.”

“For additive manufacturing, we are working on using it to upscale our manufacturing industry in the Agricultural sector for the production of crop and soil monitoring devices, customised equipment, and many more.”

Speaking on NITDA’s commitment to ensuring that Nigeria develops its digital offering in-country, Inuwa noted that the Nigeria Startup Portal was launched during the week with over 12,000 startups registered so far. He said they would be labelled after which they could have access to incentives.

Earlier Josh Woodard, USAID said that the meeting was to enable USAID to have first-hand information on what Nigeria is doing in digital farming to see how to enhance the integration of digital technology in agriculture.

He revealed that USAID recently launched the Global Food Security Strategy for Nigeria (2024 -2029) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

He said, “We want to work with all stakeholders to ensure food security in Nigeria.”

The meeting discussed the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) in relation to the success stories the initiative has recorded, the expansion strategy it is adopting and call on the USAID to be part of the initiatives.

The post NITDA, USAID to Partner in Tackling Food Insecurity appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

According to experts, food insecurity does not necessarily mean hunger, but hunger is a possible outcome of food insecurity.

At least 1.7 million people living in Lagos are food insecure despite a whopping N4.5 billion spent on food daily in the state.

Lagos is one of those cities that harbored the highest number of those who were food insecure, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation.  

According to a report – Cadre Harmonise obtained by TechEconomy, there are a total of 1,780,194 people are food insecure in Lagos, the highest number among the 21 states in Nigeria.

Borno, Katsina, and Sokoto had 1,429,988; 1,200,906; and 1,027,646 food insecure people in their domains, as they joined in the top four ranking states with food-insecure citizens in Nigeria.

“There’s a lot of hidden hunger in Lagos, malnutrition, and people who don’t know where the next meal will come from,” says Michael Sunbola, Founder, Lagos Food Bank Initiative.

Lagos Food Bank is an organization that is using an integrated food-banking system to help improve the nutrition of pregnant women and children in Lagos and beyond.

The State only possesses a landmass of 3,345 square kilometers, the smallest in the country with over 20 million residents. It accounts for over 60 percent of industrial and commercial activities.

Generally, the crisis has plunged the country into food inflation. Inflation is soaring food prices, which could be correlated with a monetary downturn, which will contribute to the hunger crisis.

Residents of Lagos consume about N4.5 billion worth of food daily, according to State Government.

“Its residents consume about N4.5 billion worth of food daily and 50 percent of beef produced in the country running into several billion in other trading activities with markets cutting across all the local government areas in the state,” Sam Egube, Commissioner for Economic, Planning, and Budget said on Monday.

Amongst other things the Lagos State Government has done to fight food insecurity, is a partnership with the Kingdom of Netherlands to modernize farming.

With the collaboration, the state was supposed to benefit from the availability of good planting materials as well as farm equipment.

This kind of partnership will promote mechanized farming in Nigeria will aid agricultural productivity, thus reducing food insecurity. At least, over 90 percent of Nigerian farmers use manual farming methods.

“I assure you that the Lagos State Government is fully committed to achieving a food secured Lagos and Nigeria through a partnership with all national and sub-national entities as well as the private sector and international technical and donor organizations.”

The Issues

Just like other states, Lagos is pressured by current realities to intensify efforts in fighting food insecurity. Tackling this challenge goes beyond organizing seminars and signing an MoU with different organizations.

Sunbola said funding, infrastructure, food wastes, policies, and human resources are big challenges to fighting food insecurity.

“Funding is a challenge because of the demands and the number of people in need of our interventions. And, of course, building infrastructure, human resource capacity to reach people, and funding plays a huge role.

“I would also say policies. If there are policies that help curb food waste, for instance, companies are not supposed to be throwing food away.

“I am saying this from what I know. Tonnes of food are being burnt. Materials that can be useful to most vulnerable people are being burnt when people are most in need.”

According to reports, Nigerian trashes at least 189 kilogrammes of food every year, amounting to a total of 37.9 million (37,941,470) tonnes of food every 12 months.

Another issue is the heightened insecurity in several regions of the country which is affecting the production of farm produce. Lagos State must lend its voice in ensuring that the menace is combated through a collective effort.

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