World Food Safety Day is gaining importance in Nigeria, where street vendors play a vital role in feeding millions. In Lagos, they are a familiar sight on almost every main street, catering to diverse food needs. However, in this largely unregulated sector, concerns about health and safety remain prevalent.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Monday, June 9, 2025
Video - Nigerian street vendors in the spotlight
World Food Safety Day is gaining importance in Nigeria, where street vendors play a vital role in feeding millions. In Lagos, they are a familiar sight on almost every main street, catering to diverse food needs. However, in this largely unregulated sector, concerns about health and safety remain prevalent.
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Nigeria seeks to boost cocoa exports as oil falters
Thirty-nine years later, the government is preparing for the launch of a new regulatory body. On 5 May agriculture minister Abubakar Kyari announced that President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet has approved a draft bill to create a National Cocoa Management Board that will have responsibility for regulating the industry, but without the power to fix prices.
“With this new framework, we will be competing directly with top global producers like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire,” said Kyari.
For President Bola Tinubu’s government, this is a chance to boost the potential of an industry that has broken several price records in recent years, with prices rising 400% in three years to reach $12,000 per ton at point. The value of cocoa exports from Nigeria jumped more than sevenfold between 2023 and 2024 to 2.7 trillion naira ($1.7bn), driven by higher demand and naira depreciation. Cocoa thus offers Nigeria a viable opportunity to diversify away from faltering oil exports.
The Tinubu administration based its 2025 budget of 54.9 trillion naira on a daily oil output of 2.06m barrels of crude sold at $75 per barrel. While the year started with a January production of 1.53m barrels per day, it has remained below that number in the subsequent months, with prices closer to $60 a barrel. Thoughts are therefore turning to cocoa as a potential driver of export earnings.
Demands for better traceability
Though Nigerian cocoa farmers and the industry in general have enjoyed the freedom to set prices, Nigerian-origin cocoa has sometimes been sold at a discount due to quality inconsistency, an indicator of variable industry standards. But recent global developments demanding sustainable and ethical practices, particularly the introduction of the European Union Deforestation Regulation, made regulated standards a necessity.
The Regulation, passed by the European Parliament in 2023, requires all exporters of agricultural commodities to the EU to provide evidence that the crop is grown sustainably and is not causing deforestation. It requires that agricultural exports be traceable to where they are grown – and this requirement has made a regulator essential, according to Adeola Adegoke, president of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria. “The Nigerian cocoa industry cannot continue to be on autopilot,” said Adegoke. “There must be a deliberate plan to reposition it in order to regain the lost glory of the cocoa economy.” Nigeria slipped from its leadership in cocoa production as oil became the mainstay of the economy from the 1970s, and agricultural exports were sidelined by successive governments.
Though Nigerian cocoa farmers and the industry in general have enjoyed the freedom to set prices, Nigerian-origin cocoa has sometimes been sold at a discount due to quality inconsistency, an indicator of variable industry standards. But recent global developments demanding sustainable and ethical practices, particularly the introduction of the European Union Deforestation Regulation, made regulated standards a necessity.
The Regulation, passed by the European Parliament in 2023, requires all exporters of agricultural commodities to the EU to provide evidence that the crop is grown sustainably and is not causing deforestation. It requires that agricultural exports be traceable to where they are grown – and this requirement has made a regulator essential, according to Adeola Adegoke, president of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria. “The Nigerian cocoa industry cannot continue to be on autopilot,” said Adegoke. “There must be a deliberate plan to reposition it in order to regain the lost glory of the cocoa economy.” Nigeria slipped from its leadership in cocoa production as oil became the mainstay of the economy from the 1970s, and agricultural exports were sidelined by successive governments.
More support needed for farmers
In recent years, the trade has suffered from an absence of incentives and government support, especially in the years in which farmers were threatened by price volatility, said Adegoke. The major assignment of the board will be to fill that gap, he said.
The move toward a new board started with the establishment of the National Cocoa Management Committee in August 2022. Made up of industry stakeholders and officials of the agriculture ministry, its primary task was to devise measures for the revitalisation of cocoa as a major export commodity.
The committee identified significant challenges, such as difficulties in dealing with cocoa pests and diseases, a growing preponderance of ageing plantations and farmers, lack of finance and the absence of national regulation.
In the draft bill, the National Cocoa Management Committee will be converted into the National Cocoa Management Board to tackle the identified problems facing the industry.
In recent years, the trade has suffered from an absence of incentives and government support, especially in the years in which farmers were threatened by price volatility, said Adegoke. The major assignment of the board will be to fill that gap, he said.
The move toward a new board started with the establishment of the National Cocoa Management Committee in August 2022. Made up of industry stakeholders and officials of the agriculture ministry, its primary task was to devise measures for the revitalisation of cocoa as a major export commodity.
The committee identified significant challenges, such as difficulties in dealing with cocoa pests and diseases, a growing preponderance of ageing plantations and farmers, lack of finance and the absence of national regulation.
In the draft bill, the National Cocoa Management Committee will be converted into the National Cocoa Management Board to tackle the identified problems facing the industry.
High prices bring opportunities
The more than threefold increase in cocoa prices between 2023 and 2024 seems to have been a wake-up call for the government. Nigeria has ranked fifth in recent years among global cocoa producers, behind Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Ecuador and Cameroon. While the two top producers, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, suffered significant output shortfalls due to unfavourable weather, Nigeria, which had a better crop, lacked the output scale to make the most of the opportunity.
Still, the country produced more than 300,000 tons of the crop in the 2023-24 season. Some expect an even better harvest in the current season due to improved weather. The government is keen to capitalise on this.
Prices for cocoa futures have started retreating from their record levels, and were ranging between $7,844 and $8,415 per ton in March, according to a market assessment published on 11 April by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO).
Weighing on the market were weakening demand and an expectation that most of the West African producers, who account for 70% of global production, will have a better season than the 2023-24 season. The current season is the first in three years in which the ICCO is expecting a production surplus. But it is unlikely to result in a wholesale reset of prices, given the vagaries of the supply chain.
Indeed, with hedge funds betting on cocoa futures and driving the record prices of recent years, younger people in Nigeria are beginning to see a future in cocoa farms. Some are establishing new farms and planting early-maturing varieties that yield pods within three years, according to officials at the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Yet, even while the government has been applauded for initiating the return of an industry board, some stakeholders have their misgivings.
The more than threefold increase in cocoa prices between 2023 and 2024 seems to have been a wake-up call for the government. Nigeria has ranked fifth in recent years among global cocoa producers, behind Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Ecuador and Cameroon. While the two top producers, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, suffered significant output shortfalls due to unfavourable weather, Nigeria, which had a better crop, lacked the output scale to make the most of the opportunity.
Still, the country produced more than 300,000 tons of the crop in the 2023-24 season. Some expect an even better harvest in the current season due to improved weather. The government is keen to capitalise on this.
Prices for cocoa futures have started retreating from their record levels, and were ranging between $7,844 and $8,415 per ton in March, according to a market assessment published on 11 April by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO).
Weighing on the market were weakening demand and an expectation that most of the West African producers, who account for 70% of global production, will have a better season than the 2023-24 season. The current season is the first in three years in which the ICCO is expecting a production surplus. But it is unlikely to result in a wholesale reset of prices, given the vagaries of the supply chain.
Indeed, with hedge funds betting on cocoa futures and driving the record prices of recent years, younger people in Nigeria are beginning to see a future in cocoa farms. Some are establishing new farms and planting early-maturing varieties that yield pods within three years, according to officials at the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Yet, even while the government has been applauded for initiating the return of an industry board, some stakeholders have their misgivings.
Sayanna Riman, a cocoa farmer and a former president of the CAN, which groups farmers, buyers and processors, says that a board could lead to creeping government interference that ultimately may not be in the interest of farmers. What the industry needs, rather than an interfering body, Riman says, is more sensitivity to the challenges that farmers face and targeted support to help them make the most of the era of high prices. “What the cocoa industry needs is investments and more standardisation,” Riman concludes.
By Dulue Mbachu, African Business
Monday, May 19, 2025
Video - ‘Tomato Ebola’ ravages Nigeria’s farms
Nigeria is facing a severe agricultural crisis as the "Tomato Ebola" pest, the Tuta absoluta, devastates key tomato-producing regions, causing massive losses estimated at over $800,000. As a result, both tomato traders and consumers are feeling the financial strain, with prices soaring and the nation's annual tomato supply falling short of demand.
Video - Aid cuts deepen malnutrition crisis in northeast Nigeria
Foreign aid reductions are severely impacting humanitarian operations in northeastern Nigeria. Key NGOs, including Mercy Corps, shut down nutrition programs, leaving mothers without critical support for malnourished children.
Friday, May 16, 2025
Children die as USAID aid cuts snap a lifeline for the world’s most malnourished
Under the dappled light of a thatched shelter, Yagana Bulama cradles her surviving infant. The other twin is gone, a casualty of malnutrition and the international funding cuts that are snapping the lifeline for displaced communities in Nigeria’s insurgency-ravaged Borno state.
“Feeding is severely difficult,” said Bulama, 40, who was a farmer before Boko Haram militants swept through her village, forcing her to flee. She and about 400,000 other people at the humanitarian hub of Dikwa — virtually the entire population — rely on assistance. The military restricts their movements to a designated “safe zone,” which severely limits farming.
For years, the United States Agency for International Development had been the backbone of the humanitarian response in northeastern Nigeria, helping non-government organizations provide food, shelter and healthcare to millions of people. But this year, the Trump administration cut more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall assistance around the world.
Programs serving children were hit hard.
Bulama previously lost young triplets to hunger before reaching therapeutic feeding centers in Dikwa. When she gave birth to twins last August, both were severely underweight. Workers from Mercy Corps enrolled them in a program to receive a calorie-dense paste used to treat severe acute malnutrition.
But in February, Mercy Corps abruptly ended the program that was entirely financed by USAID. Two weeks later, one of the twins died, Bulama said.
She has no more tears, only dread for what may come next.
“I don’t want to bury another child,” she said.
“Feeding is severely difficult,” said Bulama, 40, who was a farmer before Boko Haram militants swept through her village, forcing her to flee. She and about 400,000 other people at the humanitarian hub of Dikwa — virtually the entire population — rely on assistance. The military restricts their movements to a designated “safe zone,” which severely limits farming.
For years, the United States Agency for International Development had been the backbone of the humanitarian response in northeastern Nigeria, helping non-government organizations provide food, shelter and healthcare to millions of people. But this year, the Trump administration cut more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall assistance around the world.
Programs serving children were hit hard.
Bulama previously lost young triplets to hunger before reaching therapeutic feeding centers in Dikwa. When she gave birth to twins last August, both were severely underweight. Workers from Mercy Corps enrolled them in a program to receive a calorie-dense paste used to treat severe acute malnutrition.
But in February, Mercy Corps abruptly ended the program that was entirely financed by USAID. Two weeks later, one of the twins died, Bulama said.
She has no more tears, only dread for what may come next.
“I don’t want to bury another child,” she said.
‘Very traumatic’
Globally, 50% of the therapeutic foods for treating malnutrition in children were funded by USAID, and 40% of the supplies were produced in the U.S., according to Shawn Baker, chief program officer at Helen Keller Intl and former chief nutritionist at USAID.
He said the consequence could be 1 million children not receiving treatment for severe malnutrition, resulting in 163,500 additional deaths per year. For Helen Keller Intl, its programs in Bangladesh, Nepal and Nigeria have been terminated.
“It is very traumatic,” said Trond Jensen, the head of the United Nations humanitarian office in Maiduguri, Borno’s capital, of the funding cuts, noting that other donors, including the European Union, have taken similar steps this year. “One of the things is the threat to the lives of children.”
UNICEF still runs a therapeutic feeding center nearby, which now supports Bulama’s surviving baby, but its capacity is stretched. It is turning away many people previously served by other aid groups that have pulled out due to funding cuts.
Intersos, an Italian humanitarian organization, has the only remaining facility providing in-patient services for malnutrition in Dikwa, treating the most perilous cases. Its workers say they are overwhelmed, with at least 10 new admissions of seriously malnourished children daily.
“Before the USAID cut, we made a lot of progress,” said Ayuba Kauji, a health and nutrition supervisor. “Now my biggest worry is high mortality. We don’t have enough resources to keep up.”
Intersos was forced to reduce its staff from 30 to 11 in Dikwa after the USAID freeze. Its nutrition and health facilities now operate solely on support from the Nigerian Humanitarian Fund, a smaller pot of money contributed by a few European countries. That funding will be finished in June.
The crisis is equally acute in Maiduguri, where the economy is reeling from massive terminations of aid workers. At another Intersos-run facility, 10 of the 12 doctors have left and four nurses remain, with 50 new admissions of malnourished children per week.
“It used to be far less,” said Emmanuel Ali, one of the remaining doctors.
Globally, 50% of the therapeutic foods for treating malnutrition in children were funded by USAID, and 40% of the supplies were produced in the U.S., according to Shawn Baker, chief program officer at Helen Keller Intl and former chief nutritionist at USAID.
He said the consequence could be 1 million children not receiving treatment for severe malnutrition, resulting in 163,500 additional deaths per year. For Helen Keller Intl, its programs in Bangladesh, Nepal and Nigeria have been terminated.
“It is very traumatic,” said Trond Jensen, the head of the United Nations humanitarian office in Maiduguri, Borno’s capital, of the funding cuts, noting that other donors, including the European Union, have taken similar steps this year. “One of the things is the threat to the lives of children.”
UNICEF still runs a therapeutic feeding center nearby, which now supports Bulama’s surviving baby, but its capacity is stretched. It is turning away many people previously served by other aid groups that have pulled out due to funding cuts.
Intersos, an Italian humanitarian organization, has the only remaining facility providing in-patient services for malnutrition in Dikwa, treating the most perilous cases. Its workers say they are overwhelmed, with at least 10 new admissions of seriously malnourished children daily.
“Before the USAID cut, we made a lot of progress,” said Ayuba Kauji, a health and nutrition supervisor. “Now my biggest worry is high mortality. We don’t have enough resources to keep up.”
Intersos was forced to reduce its staff from 30 to 11 in Dikwa after the USAID freeze. Its nutrition and health facilities now operate solely on support from the Nigerian Humanitarian Fund, a smaller pot of money contributed by a few European countries. That funding will be finished in June.
The crisis is equally acute in Maiduguri, where the economy is reeling from massive terminations of aid workers. At another Intersos-run facility, 10 of the 12 doctors have left and four nurses remain, with 50 new admissions of malnourished children per week.
“It used to be far less,” said Emmanuel Ali, one of the remaining doctors.
Beyond nutrition
The effects of the funding cuts extend far beyond nutrition. At the International Organization for Migration’s reception center in Dikwa, thousands of displaced families and those escaping Boko Haram captivity are stranded. There are no new shelters being built and no support for relocation.
“Before, organizations like Mercy Corps built mud-brick homes and rehabilitated damaged shelters to absorb people from the IOM reception center,” said one official at the center, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the situation. “Now, that has stopped.”
Jensen, the U.N. humanitarian head in Maiduguri, said, “sadly, we are not seeing additional funding to make up for the U.S. cuts.” He warned that vulnerable people could turn to risky ways of coping, including joining violent groups.
The effects of the funding cuts extend far beyond nutrition. At the International Organization for Migration’s reception center in Dikwa, thousands of displaced families and those escaping Boko Haram captivity are stranded. There are no new shelters being built and no support for relocation.
“Before, organizations like Mercy Corps built mud-brick homes and rehabilitated damaged shelters to absorb people from the IOM reception center,” said one official at the center, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the situation. “Now, that has stopped.”
Jensen, the U.N. humanitarian head in Maiduguri, said, “sadly, we are not seeing additional funding to make up for the U.S. cuts.” He warned that vulnerable people could turn to risky ways of coping, including joining violent groups.
A global problem
The crisis in Nigeria is part of a larger reckoning. According to Kate Phillips-Barrasso, Mercy Corps’ vice president for policy and advocacy, 40 of its 62 U.S.-funded programs with the potential to reach 3.5 million people in Nigeria, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Lebanon and Gaza have been terminated.
In Mozambique, where jihadist violence in the north has displaced over a million people since 2017, humanitarian organizations face steep shortfalls with “devastating” effects on the needy, said Frederico João, chairman of the forum of NGOs in the region.
More widely, the USAID funding cut compromises Mozambique’s health sector, especially in HIV/AIDS care, said Inocêncio Impissa, cabinet spokesman. The government now seeks alternative funding to prevent total collapse of health systems.
Charles Mangwiro in Maputo, Mozambique, contributed to this story.
The crisis in Nigeria is part of a larger reckoning. According to Kate Phillips-Barrasso, Mercy Corps’ vice president for policy and advocacy, 40 of its 62 U.S.-funded programs with the potential to reach 3.5 million people in Nigeria, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Lebanon and Gaza have been terminated.
In Mozambique, where jihadist violence in the north has displaced over a million people since 2017, humanitarian organizations face steep shortfalls with “devastating” effects on the needy, said Frederico João, chairman of the forum of NGOs in the region.
More widely, the USAID funding cut compromises Mozambique’s health sector, especially in HIV/AIDS care, said Inocêncio Impissa, cabinet spokesman. The government now seeks alternative funding to prevent total collapse of health systems.
Charles Mangwiro in Maputo, Mozambique, contributed to this story.
By Taiwo Adebayo, AP
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Nigeria has a food security problem as water for crops is harder to find
KWALKWALAWA, Nigeria (AP) — After two decades of working his farm in northwestern Nigeria, Umaru Muazu now struggles to find water for his crops.
A murky puddle is all that remains of a river near his 5-hectare farm and those of others in this community in arid Sokoto state. Because the 62-year-old Muazu can’t afford to dig a well to keep crops like millet and maize from withering, he might abandon farming.
“Before, with a small farm, you could get a lot,” he said.
Climate change is challenging agriculture in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. With long dry spells and extreme heat, water bodies are drying because the arid season is becoming longer than usual. The wet season, though it can dump excessive rain, is short.
It’s fresh pain in a country where the World Food Program says 31 million people already face food insecurity. Efforts to recover from one climate shock are overlapped by the next, said WFP spokesperson Chi Lael.
The challenges faced by farmers in the north, who account for most of what Nigeria eats, are affecting food prices and availability in the booming coastal south that’s home to the megacity of Lagos.
More than 80% of Nigeria’s farmers are smallholder farmers, who account for 90% of the country’s annual agricultural production. Some work their fields with little more than a piece of roughly carved wood and their bare hands.
Farmers are facing low yields because the government has failed to develop infrastructure like dams to help mitigate the effects of climate change, said Daniel Obiora, national president of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria.
There is little data available on the drying-up of smaller water bodies across the north. But farmers say the trend has been worsening.
In Adamawa state, water scarcity caused by higher temperatures and changing rain patterns has affected over 1,250 hectares (3,088 acres) of farmland, disrupting food supply and livelihoods, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said last year.
Over-extraction of water and deforestation are other factors contributing to northern Nigeria’s drying rivers, according to Abdulsamad Isah, co-founder of local Extension Africa nonprofit that often works with farmers.
Elsewhere in Sokoto state, Nasiru Bello tilled his farm to cultivate onions without assurance of a meaningful harvest. With nearby rivers and wells drying up, he has resorted to pumping groundwater for the farm that provides the sole income for his family of 26. But the cost of pumping amid soaring gas prices has become unbearable.
“The plants do not grow well as it did,” he said.
Nigeria is forecast to become the world’s third most populous nation by 2025, alongside the United States and after India and China.
With Nigeria’s population expected to reach 400 million by 2050, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has been encouraging climate-smart agriculture to help ensure food security, including drip irrigation, which delivers water slowly and directly to roots and helps conserve water, instead of traditional irrigation systems that flood entire fields.
“There should be more orientation for farmers about climate change,” said Yusuf Isah Sokoto, director of the College of Environmental Science at Sokoto’s Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic.
At least two-thirds of the trees in the state have been lost due to deforestation, contributing to rising temperatures, Sokoto said.
Data from the government-run statistics agency show that local agriculture contributed 22% of Nigeria’s GDP in the second quarter of 2024, down from 25% in the previous quarter. While the trend has fluctuated in recent years, experts have said agricultural production still does not reflect growing government investment in the sector.
Household food imports, meanwhile, rose by 136% from 2023 to 2024, government statistics show.
The decreasing farm yields are being felt elsewhere in Nigeria, especially the south.
In Lagos, the price of several items grown in the north have nearly doubled in the last two years, partly due to decreasing supplies. A head of cabbage grown in the north is selling for 2,000 naira ($1.2), nearly double its price a year ago and more than five times the price in Sokoto.
Nigerian authorities acknowledge the problem. Many farmers who once harvested up to 10 tons are hardly able to get half that these days, agriculture minister Aliyu Abdullahi said earlier this year.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu and his government have touted agriculture as a means for economic prosperity. Shortly after he took office in May 2023, Tinubu’s government declared a food security state of emergency and announced plans to activate 500,000 hectares of farmland in Nigeria’s land banks, which are mostly in the north.
The land banks, however, are yet to be activated.
A murky puddle is all that remains of a river near his 5-hectare farm and those of others in this community in arid Sokoto state. Because the 62-year-old Muazu can’t afford to dig a well to keep crops like millet and maize from withering, he might abandon farming.
“Before, with a small farm, you could get a lot,” he said.
Climate change is challenging agriculture in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. With long dry spells and extreme heat, water bodies are drying because the arid season is becoming longer than usual. The wet season, though it can dump excessive rain, is short.
It’s fresh pain in a country where the World Food Program says 31 million people already face food insecurity. Efforts to recover from one climate shock are overlapped by the next, said WFP spokesperson Chi Lael.
The challenges faced by farmers in the north, who account for most of what Nigeria eats, are affecting food prices and availability in the booming coastal south that’s home to the megacity of Lagos.
More than 80% of Nigeria’s farmers are smallholder farmers, who account for 90% of the country’s annual agricultural production. Some work their fields with little more than a piece of roughly carved wood and their bare hands.
Farmers are facing low yields because the government has failed to develop infrastructure like dams to help mitigate the effects of climate change, said Daniel Obiora, national president of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria.
There is little data available on the drying-up of smaller water bodies across the north. But farmers say the trend has been worsening.
In Adamawa state, water scarcity caused by higher temperatures and changing rain patterns has affected over 1,250 hectares (3,088 acres) of farmland, disrupting food supply and livelihoods, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said last year.
Over-extraction of water and deforestation are other factors contributing to northern Nigeria’s drying rivers, according to Abdulsamad Isah, co-founder of local Extension Africa nonprofit that often works with farmers.
Elsewhere in Sokoto state, Nasiru Bello tilled his farm to cultivate onions without assurance of a meaningful harvest. With nearby rivers and wells drying up, he has resorted to pumping groundwater for the farm that provides the sole income for his family of 26. But the cost of pumping amid soaring gas prices has become unbearable.
“The plants do not grow well as it did,” he said.
Nigeria is forecast to become the world’s third most populous nation by 2025, alongside the United States and after India and China.
With Nigeria’s population expected to reach 400 million by 2050, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has been encouraging climate-smart agriculture to help ensure food security, including drip irrigation, which delivers water slowly and directly to roots and helps conserve water, instead of traditional irrigation systems that flood entire fields.
“There should be more orientation for farmers about climate change,” said Yusuf Isah Sokoto, director of the College of Environmental Science at Sokoto’s Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic.
At least two-thirds of the trees in the state have been lost due to deforestation, contributing to rising temperatures, Sokoto said.
Data from the government-run statistics agency show that local agriculture contributed 22% of Nigeria’s GDP in the second quarter of 2024, down from 25% in the previous quarter. While the trend has fluctuated in recent years, experts have said agricultural production still does not reflect growing government investment in the sector.
Household food imports, meanwhile, rose by 136% from 2023 to 2024, government statistics show.
The decreasing farm yields are being felt elsewhere in Nigeria, especially the south.
In Lagos, the price of several items grown in the north have nearly doubled in the last two years, partly due to decreasing supplies. A head of cabbage grown in the north is selling for 2,000 naira ($1.2), nearly double its price a year ago and more than five times the price in Sokoto.
Nigerian authorities acknowledge the problem. Many farmers who once harvested up to 10 tons are hardly able to get half that these days, agriculture minister Aliyu Abdullahi said earlier this year.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu and his government have touted agriculture as a means for economic prosperity. Shortly after he took office in May 2023, Tinubu’s government declared a food security state of emergency and announced plans to activate 500,000 hectares of farmland in Nigeria’s land banks, which are mostly in the north.
The land banks, however, are yet to be activated.
Related story: Video - Nigeria food crisis deepens
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Video - Nigeria food crisis deepens
Nigeria is in the grip of a worsening food crisis. Inflation is crippling farmers and traders, and millions face hunger. Despite a new emergency plan, critics say lasting solutions are still missing.
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Video - Food prices drop in Nigeria, but many remain cautious
Experts attribute the decline in food prices to enhanced security for farmers in rural areas. While this reduction offers some relief in a country grappling with high inflation, many still feel that prices remain prohibitively high for the average person.
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Video - Nigeria food experts divided over government approval of GMO crops
Nigerian food experts continue debating over a decision by the West African nation’s government to approve the consumption and sale of genetically modified crops to address food insecurity, a verdict that critics say poses health risks and economic challenges. VOA correspondents Kahli Abdu and Aisha Muazu have more.
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Video - Nigeria faces food shortages, currency strain
Nigerians grappled with economic pressures in 2024, as food, fuel, and transportation costs surged. Inflation hit a 17-year high of 32.15 percent in August, pushing millions to the brink of hunger.
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Nigeria adopts multiple micronutrient-fortified bouillon cube standards to reduce malnutrition and child mortality
The Nigerian government has enacted a new industrial standard for bouillon which includes a provision for adding vital micronutrients. The new standard specifies the inclusion of iron, zinc, folic acid and vitamin B12 on a voluntary basis in nationally produced and imported bouillon cubes to reduce malnutrition and child mortality.
An international team, including researchers from the University of California, Davis, worked with the government of Africa's most populous country to model the public health benefits of fortifying bouillon cubes, a staple in West African cooking. While fortification standards for foods like wheat flour and edible oils are in place, these foods have limited impacts on dietary quality because they are either not consumed frequently or in sufficient amounts by those most in need.
Bouillon cubes, however, are a popular ingredient in West African cooking, consumed by the vast majority of households regardless of socioeconomic status or location, offering a more equitable pathway for impact.
The policy change has the potential to save over 57,000 lives of children under the age of 5 in Nigeria between 2023 and 2030, the research team predicts.
Micronutrients are essential dietary elements that help regulate the physiological functions of cells and organs—supporting healthy growth and development during critical phases of life. Micronutrient deficiencies are widespread in West Africa, contributing to poor child health, development and mortality.
By Neelanjana Gautam, Medical Xpress
An international team, including researchers from the University of California, Davis, worked with the government of Africa's most populous country to model the public health benefits of fortifying bouillon cubes, a staple in West African cooking. While fortification standards for foods like wheat flour and edible oils are in place, these foods have limited impacts on dietary quality because they are either not consumed frequently or in sufficient amounts by those most in need.
Bouillon cubes, however, are a popular ingredient in West African cooking, consumed by the vast majority of households regardless of socioeconomic status or location, offering a more equitable pathway for impact.
The policy change has the potential to save over 57,000 lives of children under the age of 5 in Nigeria between 2023 and 2030, the research team predicts.
Micronutrients are essential dietary elements that help regulate the physiological functions of cells and organs—supporting healthy growth and development during critical phases of life. Micronutrient deficiencies are widespread in West Africa, contributing to poor child health, development and mortality.
Addressing micronutrient deficiencies
Led by the UC Davis Institute of Global Nutrition and Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, experts Stephen A. Vosti, Reina Engle-Stone, Katherine Adams, Michael Jarvis and their national and international collaborators, including UC Davis alum Seth Adu-Afarwuah, developed and used the Micronutrient Intervention Modeling (MINIMOD) tools to generate the evidence needed by the many stakeholders involved in the international bouillon fortification project. Two studies have been published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
In parallel, researchers from UC Davis, in collaboration with the University of Ghana, conducted a community-based study to test the acceptability of multiple micronutrient-fortified bouillon cubes with different levels of iron, zinc, vitamin A, folic acid and vitamin B12 by women and their households. All formulations were well-liked by more than 90% of the respondents, suggesting that a broad array of formulations of the micronutrients can be used for further research and to test the impacts of the bouillon cubes on nutritional status and other outcomes.
The team followed this work with a randomized controlled study in the same region to gauge the impact of the multiple micronutrient-fortified bouillon on micronutrient status and related outcomes. Results of this study, supervised by UC Davis researcher Sika Kumordzie, are being analyzed.
"This was the first field-based study undertaken to measure the impacts of multiple micronutrient-fortified bouillon. It therefore provides an important 'cornerstone' of evidence needed to understand the impact of fortification of bouillon in contexts where the condiment has broad and equitable reach," said Engle-Stone.
Using the MINIMOD tool in three countries (Burkina Faso, Senegal and Nigeria), this study showed important gaps in the availability of nutrients in the household food supply to meet dietary requirements for children. Folate, zinc and vitamin A show the highest inadequacy levels, with iron and B12 problematic, but to a lesser extent. In collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, the Lives Saved Tool was used to estimate the impacts of fortification with selected micronutrients (vitamin A, folic acid and zinc) on child mortality.
According to national household data from Senegal, based on food intake alone, 92% of women of reproductive age nationally have dietary inadequacy of folate. Adding fortified bouillon to the existing wheat flour fortification program would decrease national inadequacy to 23%. Researchers also suggest that bouillon fortification would substantially decrease inadequacies among children in vitamin A, zinc and folate, with modest gains for vitamin B12 and minimal impact on iron inadequacy.
Reductions in folate inadequacy among women of reproductive age, and in vitamin A and zinc inadequacies among children, could lead to significant reductions in child mortality, according to previously published studies by the team.
"We're pleased to see the government of Nigeria implement these new standards," said Vosti. "We hope these models will support discussions and policy changes needed to tackle preventable health problems throughout West Africa and more broadly."
Led by the UC Davis Institute of Global Nutrition and Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, experts Stephen A. Vosti, Reina Engle-Stone, Katherine Adams, Michael Jarvis and their national and international collaborators, including UC Davis alum Seth Adu-Afarwuah, developed and used the Micronutrient Intervention Modeling (MINIMOD) tools to generate the evidence needed by the many stakeholders involved in the international bouillon fortification project. Two studies have been published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
In parallel, researchers from UC Davis, in collaboration with the University of Ghana, conducted a community-based study to test the acceptability of multiple micronutrient-fortified bouillon cubes with different levels of iron, zinc, vitamin A, folic acid and vitamin B12 by women and their households. All formulations were well-liked by more than 90% of the respondents, suggesting that a broad array of formulations of the micronutrients can be used for further research and to test the impacts of the bouillon cubes on nutritional status and other outcomes.
The team followed this work with a randomized controlled study in the same region to gauge the impact of the multiple micronutrient-fortified bouillon on micronutrient status and related outcomes. Results of this study, supervised by UC Davis researcher Sika Kumordzie, are being analyzed.
"This was the first field-based study undertaken to measure the impacts of multiple micronutrient-fortified bouillon. It therefore provides an important 'cornerstone' of evidence needed to understand the impact of fortification of bouillon in contexts where the condiment has broad and equitable reach," said Engle-Stone.
Using the MINIMOD tool in three countries (Burkina Faso, Senegal and Nigeria), this study showed important gaps in the availability of nutrients in the household food supply to meet dietary requirements for children. Folate, zinc and vitamin A show the highest inadequacy levels, with iron and B12 problematic, but to a lesser extent. In collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, the Lives Saved Tool was used to estimate the impacts of fortification with selected micronutrients (vitamin A, folic acid and zinc) on child mortality.
According to national household data from Senegal, based on food intake alone, 92% of women of reproductive age nationally have dietary inadequacy of folate. Adding fortified bouillon to the existing wheat flour fortification program would decrease national inadequacy to 23%. Researchers also suggest that bouillon fortification would substantially decrease inadequacies among children in vitamin A, zinc and folate, with modest gains for vitamin B12 and minimal impact on iron inadequacy.
Reductions in folate inadequacy among women of reproductive age, and in vitamin A and zinc inadequacies among children, could lead to significant reductions in child mortality, according to previously published studies by the team.
"We're pleased to see the government of Nigeria implement these new standards," said Vosti. "We hope these models will support discussions and policy changes needed to tackle preventable health problems throughout West Africa and more broadly."
By Neelanjana Gautam, Medical Xpress
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Senate seeks to criminalise corn exports to tackle hunger in Nigeria
Nigeria's Senate has passed a bill seeking to make it a crime to export large quantities of unprocessed corn in an effort to alleviate hunger in the West African nation, documents seen by Reuters on Friday showed.
Africa's most populous country is grappling with its worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
Economic hardship has worsened since President Bola Tinubu started austerity reforms, including devaluing the country's naira currency and ending a decades-old petrol subsidy, fuelling inflation.
The weak Nigerian currency has spurred informal exports of corn, rice and sorghum to neighbouring countries due to the exchange rate differential with the West African CFA franc.
Corn is a staple in Nigeria that is also used for animal feed, drinks and processed flour.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts a rise in Nigeria's 2024/25 corn exports to 75,000 metric tons from its 2023/24 estimate of 50,000 metric tons.
The Senate bill, which will need the president's assent to become law, will make it illegal to export unprocessed corn from a minimum of 1 metric ton.
Violators would pay the value of the corn in fines or face a one-year prison sentence.
A joint report by Nigeria's government and the United Nations said in November that more than 30 million people are expected to be food insecure next year, a one-third jump from this year.
The USDA estimates that Nigeria consumes about 12 million metric tons of corn a year, importing roughly 100,000 metric tons.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Video - Millions of Nigerians go hungry due to severe floods, insecurity, rising food costs
The World Food Programme says the number of people in dire need of food aid in Nigeria is expected to rise to 33 million by June 2025. The group blames the food insecurity issue on unfavorable weather conditions, insurgent attacks, and a surge in food prices resulting from the removal of a fuel subsidy.
Millions of Nigerians go hungry as floods compound hardship
Unrelenting price rises and a brutal insurgency had already made it hard for Nigerians in northeastern Borno State to feed their families. When a dam collapsed in September, flooding the state capital and surrounding farmland, many people ran out of options.
Now they queue for handouts in camps for those displaced by fighting between extremist Boko Haram rebels and the military. When those run out, they seek work on local farms where they risk being killed or raped by local bandits.
"I can't even cry anymore. I'm too tired," said Indo Usman, who tried to start again in the state capital Maiduguri, rearing animals for the two annual Muslim holy days, after years of repeatedly fleeing rebel attacks in rural Borno.
The flood washed that all away, driving her, her husband and their six children to a bare room at Gubio, an unfinished housing project about 96 km (60 miles) northwest of Maiduguri that has become a displacement camp.
Torrential rains and floods in 29 of Nigeria's 36 states this year have destroyed more than 1.5 million hectares of cropland, affecting more than nine million people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Climate change is a factor, as is Nigeria's poorly maintained or non-existent infrastructure as well as vulnerabilities caused by the weakening Naira currency and the scrapping of a government fuel subsidy.
The cost of staples like rice and beans has doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in a year, depending on location -- an unmanageable shock for millions of poor families.
Mass kidnappings for ransom in the northwest and conflict between farmers and pastoralists in the central belt, traditionally the nation's bread basket, have also disrupted agriculture and squeezed food supplies.
'HUNGRIEST OF THE HUNGRY'
Roughly 40% of Nigeria's more than 200 million people live below the international poverty line of $2.15 per person per day, the World Bank estimates.
Already, 25 million people live in acute food and nutrition insecurity - putting their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger, according to a joint analysis by the government and U.N. agencies. That number is expected to rise to 33 million by next June-August.
"The food crisis in Nigeria is immense because what we are seeing is a crisis within a crisis within a crisis," said Trust Mlambo, head of programme for the northeast at the World Food Programme, in an interview with Reuters in Maiduguri.
With international donors focused on emergencies in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, Mlambo said there was not enough funding to fully meet Nigeria's growing need for food aid.
"We are really prioritising the hungriest of the hungry," he said.
In Borno, the Alau dam, upriver from Maiduguri, gave way on Sept. 9, four days after state officials had told the public it was secure. Local residents and engineers had been warning that it was under strain.
Hundreds of people were killed in the resulting flood, according to aid workers who did not wish to be identified for fear of offending the state government. A spokesperson for the state government did not respond to requests for comment.
Zainab Abubakar, a self-employed tailor in the city who lived in relative comfort with her husband and six children in a house with a refrigerator, was awoken at midnight by water rushing into her bedroom.
They ran for their lives while the flood destroyed their house and carried everything away, including her sewing machine. Now, they are sheltering at Gubio and collecting rice from aid agencies in a plastic bucket. "There is no alternative," she said.
In Banki, on Nigeria's border with Cameroon about 133 km (83 miles) southeast of Maiduguri, Mariam Hassan lost crops of maize, pepper and then okra in repeated flooding of her subsistence farm this year, leaving her with nothing to eat or sell.
"I beg the neighbours or relatives to give me food, not even for me but for my children, for us to survive," said Hassan, who has eight children. "The situation has turned me into a beggar."
By Ope Adetayo, Reuters
Friday, October 18, 2024
Video - Malnutrition rates rise in Nigeria
Healthcare workers have reported a rise in severe malnutrition among young people in the Lake Chad region, where years of conflict have devastated agriculture and worsened food security. Humanitarian agencies estimate 6.1 million people will face food shortages in the coming months.
Monday, September 23, 2024
Video - Nigeria rolls out rice subsidy as economic woes deepen
With inflation hitting a near three-decade high of 33.4 percent in July, millions of Nigerians have struggled to keep up with rising food costs. This subsidy comes as a lifeline for many families teetering on the edge. However, the rice sale is limited to public servants and those with a National Identification Number (or NIN), leaving many out of the program.
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Video - Nigeria’s health authorities to fortify bouillon cubes to improve diets
Bouillon cubes, typically made from salt, sugars, starch, vegetable fats and proteins, as well as herbs and spices, are widely used in Nigeria. Experts say their fortification could vastly improve the diets of millions of families living on restricted budgets, as they cannot afford protein-rich meals like fish and meat.
Monday, September 9, 2024
Video - Nigeria spends $1.5 billion annually on dairy imports
The growing demand for dairy products in Nigeria, coupled with limited local production, has led the government to spend $1.5 billion annually on imports. Currently, local dairy production meets only 40% of the country’s demand, as Africa's most populous nation continues to struggle with boosting its milk output.
Thursday, August 22, 2024
Is Nigeria, finally ready for McDonald’s?
From Roswell to Guantanamo Bay, no matter where you are in the word, the famous Golden Arches often aren’t far away. However, McDonald's Africa is yet to be fully established.
Worldwide, there are 36,899 McDonald’s, stretching across 120 countries. When you map out where McDonald’s aren't, however, it shows one continent in particular is lacking the Big Mac: Africa.
The biggest obstacle blocking McDonald’s from Nigeria is a lack of adequate supply chains. Geographically, Nigeria lies too far from South Africa, Egypt or Morocco to simply expand existing supply chains.
Countries with no existing McDonald’s outlets are highlighted here in red.
Although Africa is home to over 1.2bn people, McDonald’s is present in just four African countries: Morocco, Egypt, South Africa and Mauritius.
Combined, these markets contain a paltry 387 McDonald’s. To give a better perspective, there are 393 McDonald’s outlets in Mexico alone.
As core Western markets continue to stagnate, fast food companies should turn their attention to the largely unsaturated African markets. And where better than the economic powerhouse, Nigeria.
In 2015, McDonald’s South Africa CEO, Greg Solomon, claimed that “it was not about if, but when” the brand would be entering Nigeria. However, news on the subject has since all but dried up.
Over half of global population growth will occur in Africa between now and 2050, according to a recent PwC report with Nigeria’s population alone expected to reach around 400m in 2050, which would make it the third most populous nation in the world.
Economically, the Nigerian market is also becoming increasingly attractive to fast food chains.
Nigeria’s GDP per capita has risen from $379.12 at the turn of the Millennium, to $2,177.99 in 2016, while 46 percent of people in Nigeria say their disposable incomes are increasing, according to a recent GlobalData survey.
The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index for 2018 also saw the country rise to 145th, up from 169th in 2017.
The McDonald’s brand -- due to being a US brand -- would likely be viewed positively compared to domestic fast food chains. GlobalData research found 48 percent of Nigerian consumers associate the US with high quality food and drink, higher than both Europe (34 percent) and Nigeria itself (30 percent).
"Is Africa, and Nigeria, finally ready for McDonald’s?" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand.
Friday, July 12, 2024
Poultry farming sector hit by inflation in Nigeria
Nigeria's poultry farming sector is experiencing widespread problems. Rising costs of feed, drugs, and production have led to the closure of 30 percent of farms within just six months.
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