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Gallery|Poverty and Development

Nigerian families struggle to survive as food prices soar

World Bank estimates Nigeria’s soaring inflation and food prices pushed seven million more people into poverty in 2021.

People buy and sell food at the Illaje market, in Bariga, Lagos. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP]
Published On 4 Jul 20214 Jul 2021
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With inflation rising around the world as the global economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, soaring prices are having dramatic consequences in countries like Nigeria.

The number of people living in poverty in Nigeria – Africa’s most populous nation with 210 million inhabitants – was already among the highest in the world.

But as Nigeria has been battered by the double economic effect of low global oil prices and the pandemic, the World Bank estimates the country’s soaring inflation and food prices pushed another seven million people into poverty in 2021.

Food prices have increased more than 22 percent since the start of the coronavirus crisis, according to official statistics.

For many people, feeding their family has become a daily challenge.

“Every day, during consultations, there are five or seven children that suffer from malnutrition,” says Emiolo Ogunsola, head of the nutrition department at Massey Street children’s hospital in a poor district in Lagos Island.

“I bet in a few months or a year, more children will be malnourished.”

Even before the pandemic and the surge in food costs, Nigeria’s nutrition figures were alarming: One in three Nigerian children suffered stunted growth due to a bad diet.

As a result, close to 17 million children in Nigeria are undernourished, giving the country the highest level of malnutrition in Africa and the second-highest in the world.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019, food prices have risen by an average of more than 22 percent, according to official statistics. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP]
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A general view of grains of Rice at Paul Chinedu's shop in a market at Illaje Bariga, Lagos, on June 29, 2021. - Since the start of the pandemic in 2019, food prices have risen by an average of more than 22%, according to official statistics, and feeding a family properly has become a daily challenge. (Photo by Benson Ibeabuchi / AFP)
Africa's most populous nation with 210 million inhabitants, Nigeria has one of the highest rates of poverty in the world. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP]
Cucumbers are on display for sale at the Illaje market, in Bariga, Lagos. The World Bank estimates Nigeria's soaring inflation and food prices pushed another seven million people into poverty in 2021. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP]
Vendor Olayemi Emmanuel at the Illaje market. Even before the pandemic and the surge in food costs, Nigeria's figures on malnutrition were alarming. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP]
Paul Chinedu in his shop in Illaje market, Bariga. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP]
Edith Obatuga, 43, has six children to look after - two of them are her own - but she also has to bring up her four nephews and nieces. "During the lockdown last year, prices started to go up, and never stopped since. We cannot stand any more." [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP]
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Edith Obatuga, right, buys goods at Illaje market. Obatuga has made adjustments to delay having to cut portions of food from the family meals. She moved her family from their apartment because she could no longer afford the rent and moved into her late mother's old house. [Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP]


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