Some families and experts in the food industry on Sunday shared their experiences with the relentless surge in food prices, which has imposed a significant burden on Nigerian households and businesses alike.
Nigeria’s inflation rate increased from 33.95 per cent in May 2024 to 34.19 per cent in June 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its recently issued June Consumer Price Index (CPI) report.
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.40 per cent higher compared to June 2023, which recorded a rate of 22.79 per cent.
Feyisayo Omon, a mother of five and a civil servant, said her family no longer eats three square meals daily and struggles to maintain a balanced diet.
“If I tell you that we were a family that could get up any time of the day and be sure that food is in the kitchen, you wouldn’t believe me. There was always something to eat, something to snack on.
“But now, our fridge is almost useless, and our gas rarely feels the pot nowadays. It’s been tough. The price of food in the market makes me depressed,” Ms Omon said.
Maria Ose, a mother of two, complained about the high cost of food and its impact on adequately caring for her children.
“When I go to the market to buy things for cooking, I shed tears because this is not how things used to be. Even if I carry N100,000 to the market, I don’t think I can buy something tangible for the family to eat for a month,” Ms Ose lamented.
Yemi Olarenwaju, a teacher and father of five, said his family now eats once daily to survive the harsh times. Living on a salary of N95,000, he ensures they eat one heavily balanced meal midday to cut expenses.
“We can’t eat food for luxury at this time. So, we eat to survive, to fuel us to work. If things probably get better, we can move to eating more than once,” Mr Olarenwaju explained.
Fatimah Eniola, a cake maker in Lagos, decried low customer patronage in her business.
“People see eating out as a luxury now. The rising cost of food prices has made food service expensive,” she said, noting increased customer complaints as if they were oblivious to the country’s situation.
Ms Eniola hoped the government would intervene to help the food industry and struggling households.
Joy Onwumere, a food vendor, said they struggle to do their costing and budgeting.
“Imagine if you had a client and the price of the food they ordered triples in less than three days. What will you do? It’s terrible,” Ms Onwumere said.
She narrated her experience of setbacks and how her customer base had dropped drastically due to price increases.
“Two weeks ago, I catered for an event for 400 people, and I didn’t make a profit because the cost of ingredients had risen significantly.
“Now, I can’t even tell clients to increase the money because I have given my quotation,” she explained.
(NAN)
