By Olaitan Ibrahim
No less than 71 percent of households have reportedly been impacted by price increases on major food items, with food shortages affecting more than a third of households in the past year.
This was contained in a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday, noting that 65 percent of families and other residents are unable to afford healthy meals over lack of money.
These shortages, it noted, were most pronounced in June, July, and August, exacerbating the food insecurity crisis.
According to the report, food scarcity, insecurity and high prices have forced Nigerian households to cut consumption. The report added that the General Household Survey Panel (Wave 5) report conducted in collaboration with the World Bank.
The data further said 48.8 percent of households reported reducing their food consumption as a coping mechanism.
It further said 12.3 percent reported that at least one person in the household went without eating for a whole day and 20.8 percent of households had to borrow food or rely on help from friends or relatives.
The report added that residents in the South-South zone had the highest (most concerning) rate in five out of eight indicators of food insecurity.
“In the past 12 months, more than one-third of households faced food shortages, which occurred more frequently in the months of June, July, and August.
“Price increases on major food items were the most prevalent shock reported by households, affecting 71.0 percent of surveyed households.”
The report said the number of households worried about not having enough food to eat increased from 36.9 percent in Wave 4 (conducted in 2019) to 62.4 percent in Wave 5.
It stressed that the surge was due to an increase in food insecurity, with more than half of Nigerian families struggling to meet their dietary needs.
“Approximately two out of three households (65.8 percent) reported being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days.
“63.8 percent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should.
“In general, households in the southern zones report more incidents related to food security than those in northern zones.
“For example, in the southern zones, the proportion of households reporting that they had to skip a meal ranged from 50.1 percent in South West to 62.4 percent in South East, while in the northern zones this share varied from 34.0 percent in North Central to 48.3 percent in North East.
“In contrast, the data bureau said north-central had the lowest rate in six of the eight indicators,” the report added.