Some Nigerian households spend more than their earnings on food and resort to borrowing to survive until the end of the month, Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele has said.
Oyedele disclosed this while speaking at Chatham House in London, citing a government survey that found food expenditure in some households reached 120 per cent of their income.
He said the figures exposed the gap between conventional economic indicators and the hardship experienced by millions of Nigerians, noting that the country’s poverty rate remained above 50 per cent despite an unemployment rate of about five per cent.
The minister said the situation reflected the problem of working poverty, where people have jobs but still struggle to afford basic necessities.
“Macroeconomic stability means little to a mother who still cannot afford food,” he said.
Oyedele put food inflation at 19.6 per cent in September, adding that food prices were declining more slowly than the overall inflation rate, worsening inequality.
He attributed persistent high food prices to low agricultural yields, seasonal farming, post-harvest losses, poor storage and logistics, transportation costs and insecurity in farming communities.
According to him, Nigeria loses as much as 60 per cent of its tomato production to post-harvest losses, underscoring the need for investment in storage, transportation infrastructure and improved agricultural productivity.
He said the government was working to increase food supply through agricultural technology, irrigation, storage facilities, rural roads and improved security for farmers. It was also expanding access to finance for smallholder farmers and small businesses.
Oyedele said the government’s cash transfer programme had reached more than 10 million households, with payments made digitally and beneficiaries verified using their National Identification Numbers.
He said the initiative was intended to cushion the effects of economic hardship on vulnerable households while policies to increase incomes and reduce poverty were implemented.
The minister added that the government was prioritising agriculture and non-tradable services after its analysis found that 81.4 per cent of employed Nigerians worked in the two sectors.
He said the administration wanted these sectors to grow faster than the overall economy to improve incomes, reduce poverty and narrow inequality, ultimately reducing the need for cash transfers.
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