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No fewer than 65% of Nigerian households have been unable afford healthy meals over lack of money as economic hardship bites harder.
This is according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest General Household Survey Panel (Wave 5) report conducted in collaboration with the World Bank.
The report said this is an apparent reflection of the multidimensional poverty in the country and the impact of continuous reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians due to rising prices of goods and services
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These shortages were most pronounced in June, July, and August, exacerbating the food insecurity crisis.
As a coping mechanism, 48.8 percent of households reported reducing their food consumption, the data body said.
“In the past 12 months, more than one-third of households faced food shortages, which occurred more frequently in the months of June, July, and August,” the report reads.
“Price increases on major food items were the most prevalent shock reported by households, affecting 71.0 percent of surveyed households.
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“Households’ main reported mechanism for coping with shocks was reducing food consumption (48.8 percent).”
The report said the number of households worried about not having enough food to eat increased from 36.9 percent in Wave 4 (conducted in 2019) to 62.4 percent in Wave 5.
According to NBS, the surge was due to an increase in food insecurity, with more than half of Nigerian families struggling to meet their dietary needs.
“Approximately two out of three households (65.8 percent) reported being unable to eat healthy, nutritious, or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days. 63.8 percent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should,” the report added.
“Furthermore, 12.3 percent reported that at least one person in the household went without eating for a whole day and 20.8 percent of households had to borrow food or rely on help from friends or relatives.
“In general, households in the southern zones report more incidents related to food security than those in northern zones.
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“For example, in the southern zones, the proportion of households reporting that they had to skip a meal ranged from 50.1 percent in South West to 62.4 percent in South East, while in the northern zones this share varied from 34.0 percent in North Central to 48.3 percent in North East.”
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The report further said residents in the south-south zone had the highest (most concerning) rate in five out of eight indicators of food insecurity.
In contrast, the data bureau said north-central had the lowest rate in six of the eight indicators.
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