The PricePally 2024 Stew Index Report reveals a 121.05 percent increase in the cost of making a pot of stew within a year, indicating a severe food crisis in Nigeria. Minimum wage earners now spend over 25 percent of their income on this staple. Key ingredients, such as tomatoes and onions, have seen dramatic price hikes due to inflation, impacting household consumption and spending behavior significantly.
The average cost of preparing a pot of stew in Nigeria has seen a staggering rise of 121.05 percent over the past year, according to the PricePally 2024 Stew Index Report. As a result, individuals earning the minimum wage must allocate more than 25 percent of their salary for this basic culinary staple, underscoring a significant food crisis in the country. The report, titled “The Cost of Preparing Stew in Lagos in 2024,” notes that between July 2023 and September 2024, food inflation caused drastic increases in essential ingredients including tomatoes, onions, and various proteins.
Particularly, the cost of a beef stew in Lagos escalated from N8,060 in 2023 to N17,817 by September 2024. Similarly, the price of chicken stew increased from N7,085 to N15,034, while turkey and goat meat stew prices rose from N7,966 and N8,227, respectively, in 2023 to N17,987 and N20,817 in 2024. This situation has placed a heavy financial burden on Nigerian households, impacting their ability to consume these fundamental food items.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics indicate that household consumption in Nigeria dropped dramatically from N22.3 trillion to N10.6 trillion in real terms. This decline can largely be attributed to inflation’s adverse effects on real income, compelling households to prioritize essential spending and significantly curtail discretionary expenditures. Despite a reported food inflation reduction to 26.08 percent, the reality of high food prices remains unchanged for most Nigerians.
The report also highlights that with the new minimum wage set at N70,000, the cost of preparing beef stew now represents 25.45 percent of a minimum wage earner’s income, if prepared monthly. In contrast, in 2023, it accounted for 26.87 percent of their income. The previous minimum wage of N30,000 indicated that consumers spent an alarming 59.39 percent of their monthly income preparing beef stew, stressing that wage increases have not satisfactorily countered inflation’s effects.
Indeed, for those preparing stew weekly, the financial impact is even more dire, as costs then exceed 101.81 percent of the current minimum wage. Furthermore, the concentration of low-income earners—where only 14 percent of Nigerians earn more than N250,000 monthly—adds to the fodder for economic disparity, stressing that a worker earning N100,000 in 2023 would need at least N212,190 in 2024 to maintain equivalent purchasing power.
The PricePally 2024 index survey found that staple ingredients required for stew—the likes of tomatoes, onions, and peppers—have been subject to price surges. Tomatoes, a vital component, increased by 74.3 percent from N1,506 per kilogram in July 2023 to N2,625 in July 2024. Meanwhile, onions skyrocketed from N971.86 to N3,000 within a likewise timeframe, representing an extraordinary 200 percent increase. Proportional gains in protein prices have been equally alarming; for instance, beef prices rose from N3,449 to N6,500, while goat meat saw hikes from N3,856 to N9,500 by 2024.
The PricePally 2024 Stew Index Report reveals alarming increases in the costs of essential stew ingredients in Nigeria, highlighting a profound food crisis that forces minimum wage earners to allocate over a quarter of their income on a pot of stew. With inflation significantly impacting household consumption and altering spending behavior, the contrast between rising food prices and stagnant wage growth emphasizes the urgent need for economic interventions to alleviate the financial strain on low-income families. As socioeconomic disparities deepen, addressing agricultural disruptions and inflation becomes imperative for national food security.
Original Source: businessday.ng
