Nigerians face acute malnutrition as the average cost of purchasing healthy food daily increased by 32 per cent in the five months, rising to N1,041 in May 2024 from N786 in December 2023.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), disclosed this in its latest Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) report for May 2024.
On a month-on-month basis, the report said that the cost of a healthy diet increased marginally by one per cent in May 2024, compared to the N1,035 recorded in April.
The NBS said Kano recorded the lowest CoHD at N898, followed by Jigawa at N899, and Yobe and Katsina at N906.
Conversely, the lowest average CoHD was recorded in the North-West at N919 per adult per day.
In recent months, the CoHD has risen faster than general inflation and food inflation, the report said, adding that the food groups that have driven the increases in CoHD the most are starchy staples, legumes, nuts and seeds, and animal source foods.
The development comes as food inflation increased for the 17th time to 40.66 per cent in May 2024.
Nigeria is facing the twin challenges of serious security and high cost of transportation which has made it difficult for farmers to go to their farms, or transport the few available food to the market, thus resulting in the high cost of food in the market.
