Nigeria’s worsening cost of living puts balance diet out of reach (businessday.ng)

She asked.

I cant afford to give my children an egg per day anymore despite knowing the importance of their development because it has become so expensive, Moji Adeleke, a teacher and a mother of four said.

Also, beans which are a substitute for protein for poor Nigerians are no longer affordable.

A derica tin that was sold for N350 last year is now being sold for N500, she said.

Beans and eggs are economically important agricultural products that serve as the cheapest means of protein for a majority in Africas most populous nation.

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Currently, Nigeria lags behind its peers in terms of per capita protein consumption owing to its high rate of lowincome earners, poor nutritional knowledge, and high cost of proteinrich foods, experts say.

The countrys per capita daily protein intake is estimated to be 45.4g as against the Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO) minimum of 53.8g.

With beans and eggs currently eluding many Nigerian households owing to the continuous rise in prices, the countrys per capita protein intake gap will further widen and the number of malnourished persons will increase.

In a 2022 combined report by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), World Food Programme and the United Nations, Nigeria is listed among five other countries as the hotspot of global hunger where people are facing catastrophic levels of hunger.

FAO, in its 2023 quarterly report, projected that 25.3 million Nigerians would face acute food insecurity during the June to August lean season, and malnutrition rates in most northern states to double.

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At least 17 million Nigerian children are undernourished stunted and/or wasted, giving Nigeria the highest burden of malnutrition in Africa and the second highest in the world. 43.6 percent of children in Nigeria have stunted growth, according to the 2018 Global Nutrition Report.

Wasting, a reflection of acute malnutrition, affects approximately 18 percent of children under five in Nigeria, which, according to WHO standards, is a very high public health concern.

With access to protein becoming more difficult, these indices are expected to worsen as a result of the economic fallout from the RussiaUkraine war.

We cant even feed properly.

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The worsening cost of living crisis in Africas most populous nation is putting a balanced diet out of reach for millions of Nigerians, especially fixed and lowincome earners.

Accelerating inflation and dwindling household incomes is eroding consumers purchasing power.