As inflation has slowed down over the last few months, hovering at 11.25% from highs of over 18% at the height of the recession, the national Jollof Index has followed a similar path. Not only has the price stabilized but it started to decline in the early months of 2019.
For the first time since the index tracking began, Lagos is no longer the most pocket-friendly city to cook Jollof, Onitsha and Awka in Anambra State have taken the mantle to become the cheapest region to cook Jollof in the markets we tracked.
Nigerians continue to manage funds by buying ingredients in smaller bits as opposed to bulk buying and storing which may reduce the cost of the foodstuff.
The SBM Jollof index is a composite index that tracks the prices of the main ingredients used to prepare a pot of one of Nigeria’s primary delicacies – Jollof rice, for a family of six. This meal was selected because it has the near unrivalled distinction of being a delicacy in every part of the country.
Of all the Jollof making ingredients, only one was the same price across all the 11 markets tracked by SBM intelligence in six states across the country – tinned tomatoes, at ₦70 for the small tin.
Also, transportation and logistics of moving foodstuff across the country must be fixed. For instance, eight small pieces of tomatoes cost only ₦50 in Kano. A mere five hours away in Abuja, the same eight tomatoes cost ₦200, four times their Kano price. This price difference is mainly found in the logistics of moving the tomatoes.
Nigerians currently spend between 56% and 60% of their income on food on average. This is amongst the highest in the world. Hence reductions or increases in the price of food have an outsized impact on the quality of life of Nigerians, and by extension, on how much Nigerians have as income to allocate to other essentials such as clothing, housing, transportation, healthcare and schooling, and then discretionary income. We believe that it must be a strategic imperative for the government of Nigeria at all levels to make food cheaper for Nigerians.
NORTH CENTRAL INDEX
In the North Central, two markets in Abuja were visited to collect the data – Wuse Market and Nyanya Market. Prior to April 2018, the prices in Wuse were close to Nyanya, with Wuse always being marginally more expensive. However, from April 2018 onwards, the disparity became much wider, and by February 2019, it cost 25% more to make Jollof with ingredients bought from Wuse market than it did in Nyanya market. As with the National index, from July 2018, the price has stabilized. Wuse remains the most expensive place to make Jollof in Nigeria. Asked why Wuse has remained expensive, most respondents claimed that was intentionally planned to retain only those who can afford a higher cost of living. The cost of transporting food item to Wuse is the same as the cost transport to Nyanya, but food items go up in Wuse because of costs such as rent.
In the North West, Kano’s Sabon Gari market was visited. Here, prices have stabilized and have dropped at a quicker rate than the national average since October 2018, experiencing a 5% drop since. However, the price of turkey remained much higher than in other markets, while the beef was much cheaper as expected. The result is that most people surveyed here preferred to go for beef.
In the South East, markets in Onitsha and Awka were visited. Here, there was a disparity in the prices from May 2017 to February 2018. However, since that time, the prices have again converged and have trended upwards albeit very slightly. It is in this region that Jollof is cheapest to make in the country. The prices of making Jollof in the South East has trended downwards because of asides from meat that is not a large scale business for the people from South East, many people in the zone farm every other food item. These days, almost every home has a farm, and they produce more than what they consume, bringing the excess to the market. Respondents also noted how the South East markets work: there are days set out for the market. Things are usually sold at a cheaper price in such market days. In Abakaliki, they do not eat or sell foreign rice because they have rice in abundance, creating a cheap rice market for states sharing a border with Abakaliki, such as Cross River, which borders Ebonyi.
Two markets in Lagos as well as two in Ibadan in South West. Prices in Ibadan were higher than those in the Lagos markets, with markets in each city essentially converging, but having only very slight disparities. The key ingredients that drive the difference in Lagos and Ibadan are vegetable oil and protein (beef and turkey), all being higher in Ibadan than in Lagos.
In the South-South, two markets in Calabar – Bayside and Municipal were visited. Here, prices have been on a sharp and steady decline. The key ingredient that has declined in price here is rice, after seeing a huge spike in price from April to June 2018.
