Business
Drop in prices of essential foodstuffs excites consumers
Mrs Emi Ekelemu said she recently visited Ilepo Market, Abule Egba, Lagos, to buy her favourite food product, yam, and to her surprise and relief, the same size of Ada Onitsha yam she hadbought for N7,000 in November last year was selling for N3,500.
“Is this for real?” she wondered. “I budgeted for five tubers of yams, so I ended up buying more because I do not know if the price will go up by the next time I come.”
According to her, with that excitement, she ventured inside the market and noticed that the prices of other staple foods had slightly reduced, though red palm oil was still high. “The tiny brown beans I used to buy a small D’erica cup for N1,200 are now selling for N600”.
Further investigations revealed that the price drop is not just within Lagos but across the country.
A market survey conducted across major markets in the FCT showed that while prices of several staples declined after the festive season, some food items remain expensive.
Some residents, who spoke to our correspondent, said the drop in prices had brought some relief, but urged the government to ensure sustainability, as many households were still constrained by low purchasing power.
Latest food inflation statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigeria’s food inflation rate dropped in December 2025.
According to the NBS, food inflation stood at -0.36 per cent on a month-on-month basis, representing a decrease of 1.49 percentage points compared to the 1.13 per cent recorded in November 2025.
At Garki Model Market, a dustbin basket of big red tomatoes is being sold for between N5,000 and N5,500, as against N6,000 to N7,000, while a dustbin basket of shombo dropped to N3,000 from N4,500 to N5,000 recorded between November and December.
Similarly, a dustbin basket of fresh pepper dropped significantly, falling from between N4,500 and N5,000 to about N2,500, while tatashe dropped from between N5,000 and N6,000 to N3,000.
A dustbin basket of onions is being sold for N4,000 compared to N4,500 previously, and sweet potatoes dropped to between N1,000 and N1,800 from N3,000.
However, Irish potatoes recorded a sharp increase, increasing from 5,000 to N6,000 to between N9,000 and N10,000 per dustbin basket.
Rice prices remained relatively stable, with a 50kg bag of local rice selling for between N52,000 and N57,000, while foreign rice is being sold for N64,000. A 25kg bag of local rice is being sold for between N25,000 and N28,000.
At Nyanya Market, a dustbin basket of tomatoes sold for between N2,000 and N3,000, as against N4,000 during the festive season.
Onions dropped to N3,300 to N4,000 from N5,000 for a dustbin basket, while five medium-sized yam tubers now sell for between N4,500 and N5,000 compared to N5,000 to N7,500 previously sold.
One mudu of brown beans dropped from N1,000 to N700.
In Gwagwalada Market, food prices recorded a slight drop after the festive season, though many staples remained expensive.
A 50kg bag of foreign rice, which sold for N70,000 to N75,000 during Christmas, is now sold for between N65,000 and N70,000, while local rice dropped from N68,000 to between N62,000 and N66,000.
A medium-sized yam tuber dropped slightly from N4,000 to about N3,500.
At Apo Resettlement Market, prices of tomatoes, pepper and sweet potatoes declined, while onions and beef remained largely stable.
A dustbin basket of big red tomatoes dropped to between N3,500 and N4,000 as against N5,000 to N6,000, and tatashe dropped to N4,000 and N4,500 as against N5,500 sold during the festive period.
Pepper dropped significantly from N4,500 to N2,500 for a dustbin basket, as well as sweet potato, which dropped from N2,500 to N1,500, while a kg of beef remained at N8,000.
Dei-Dei Market also recorded significant price reductions. A large basket of derica tomatoes, known as tomato Jos, is currently being sold for between N8,000 and N12,000, as opposed to N25,000 to N28,000. Meanwhile, a 50kg bag of fresh pepper has dropped sharply to between N15,000 and N20,000 from N60,000.
At Wuse Market, prices remained higher compared to other markets surveyed, though slight reductions were recorded in tomatoes, pepper, onions and tatashe.
In the South East, prices remain relatively stable or declined, supported by bumper harvests and peak farming activity.
At the Abakaliki Foodstuff Regional Market in Ebonyi State, a bag of iron beans sells for about ₦80,000, while Patasko beans go for ₦70,000, down sharply from ₦130,000 to ₦150,000 last year.
Okpa bambara nut sells for about ₦120,000, groundnut ₦130,000, ukah ₦35,000 and soybeans ₦65,000 per bag. Rice prices held steady.
A 25kg bag of high-grade Abakaliki rice sells for ₦18,000 to ₦20,000, while lower-grade varieties go for about ₦15,000, down from ₦25,000 to ₦40,000 last year.
Garri prices also eased. In Ngbo communities of Ohaukwu Local Government Area, a paint of white garri sells for about ₦1,000 and red garri ₦1,500, compared with about ₦5,000 last year. Yam prices softened, with ₦10,000 buying five to six large tubers.
In the North West, Kano markets recorded broad-based declines across major staples. Surveys at Yankura, Sabon Gari, Tarauni and Dawanau International markets show foreign rice selling for about ₦53,000 per 50kg bag, while local rice sells for around ₦63,000. This compares with prices above ₦70,000 for foreign rice and up to ₦80,000 for local rice a year earlier.
White beans now sell for about ₦60,000 per bag and red beans for ₦52,000, down from ₦70,000 to ₦85,000. White garri sells for about ₦47,000 per 50kg bag, yellow garri about ₦22,000.
Sorghum dropped to around ₦36,000 per bag, while millet sells for about ₦32,000. Traders attribute the moderation to improved harvests, better supply flows and reduced speculative buying, while warning that fuel costs, exchange rate pressures and security challenges remain risks.
Some traders attributed the post-Christmas price drop to reduced consumer spending in January and increased supply from harvests.
A tomato trader at Garki Market said that more customers were now buying full baskets due to lower prices, although many still bought smaller quantities because of limited funds.
Cyril Okocha, a businessman, said the fluctuations were largely seasonal, noting that crops such as tomatoes, peppers and onions could become expensive during off-season periods.
According to him, the main challenge is not just food prices but low income and irregular salary payments.
“Many workers are underpaid, salaries are not indexed to inflation, minimum wage is not fully implemented across states, and some workers are not paid regularly.”
“To ensure sustainability of food prices, the government should encourage dry season farming, improve food availability and security, regulate prices, and boost incomes; these are also essential to easing the cost-of-living crisis.”
Some residents also shared similar views. Yemisi, a civil servant, expressed satisfaction with the drop in prices of items such as tomatoes, pepper, rice and beans, but urged the government to ensure sustainability.
“The reduction is encouraging, but many people still cannot afford these items. Government should ensure the prices are sustained,” she said.
Meanwhile, farmers and agricultural experts have urged the Federal Government to adopt deliberate and long-term policies to sustain the decline in food prices.
Kabir Ibrahim, President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) said the current drop in food prices was largely driven by harvest-season factors and warned that prices could rise again without structural improvements.
Experts also recommend addressing insecurity, foreign exchange challenges and transportation costs to curb food inflation and ensure sustainable food security.
Food prices are moderating as seasonal harvests coincide with higher domestic production and policy interventions that expanded supply.
Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security says output of staples such as maize, rice, wheat and cassava improved following expanded planting and better access to inputs from 2023.
According to Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, the combined effect of reforms, mechanisation and market-focused interventions is repositioning agriculture as a scalable business capable of stabilising food supply and prices.
Similarly, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, believed that increased production under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme Agro Pocket initiative had shifted markets from scarcity toward relative abundance.
He linked the price adjustment to larger volumes entering markets and the current harvest cycle.
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