….Taraba Records Highest Increase, Ogun Posts 26.7% Spike
… Southern States Remain Nigeria’s Most Expensive Places To Eat Well
…Report Says Healthy Feeding Now Consumes Most Of Minimum Wage
Daud Olatunji
The cost of eating a healthy diet in Nigeria climbed sharply in the first quarter of 2026, with Taraba recording the highest increase in food costs while Bayelsa remained the cheapest state, according to a new report by civic technology organisation, BudgIT.
The report also identified Ogun among six states experiencing the steepest rise in the cost of a healthy diet, raising fresh concerns over worsening food inflation and the growing burden on household incomes.
In its latest report titled, “The Price of Survival: Nigeria’s Cost of a Healthy Diet Tracker, Q1 2026,” BudgIT said the national average cost of a healthy diet rose by 11.7 per cent between December 2025 and March 2026, increasing from N1,380 to N1,541 per person per day.
The organisation said the increase erased the temporary relief experienced during the last quarter of 2025 when food prices declined by 6.4 per cent due to the harvest season.
“It was seasonal relief, not a structural improvement. Q1 2026 reversed it entirely,” BudgIT stated.
According to the report, tighter post-harvest supplies and dry-season pressures triggered fresh increases across virtually all food groups.
Taraba recorded the sharpest quarterly increase in healthy diet costs, rising by 49.3 per cent between January and March.
Other states with significant increases included Gombe (34.1 per cent), Yobe (29.9 per cent), Cross River (28.1 per cent), Kano (27 per cent) and Ogun (26.7 per cent).
However, eight states recorded declines during the same period, led by Adamawa with a 26.7 per cent drop, followed by Akwa Ibom (21.6 per cent), Ondo (13 per cent), Edo (12.7 per cent), Borno (8.3 per cent), the Federal Capital Territory (6.3 per cent), Rivers (3.5 per cent) and Bayelsa (0.3 per cent).
BudgIT cautioned against relying solely on percentage increases, noting that Taraba started the quarter with one of the country’s lowest food costs, making its percentage increase appear more dramatic.
The report further revealed a widening regional disparity in food affordability, with southern states remaining the most expensive places to maintain a healthy diet.
Ekiti topped the list with an average daily healthy diet cost of N2,091 per person, followed by Imo (N2,052), Abia (N1,970), Lagos (N1,910) and Ebonyi (N1,891).
Conversely, Adamawa recorded the lowest daily cost at N1,004, followed by the FCT (N1,113), Taraba (N1,149), Borno (N1,244) and Bauchi (N1,273).
BudgIT noted that although northern states generally recorded lower food costs, the North-West experienced the fastest quarterly increase at 17.5 per cent, almost three times the national average.
The organisation warned that rising food prices were increasingly consuming workers’ earnings.
According to the report, in Ekiti, the daily cost of a healthy diet would absorb about 89.6 per cent of the N70,000 national minimum wage, leaving only about N7,261 monthly to cover other essential expenses such as rent, transportation, healthcare, electricity and education.
Describing the situation as a major governance challenge, BudgIT urged the governments of Taraba, Gombe, Yobe, Cross River, Kano and Ogun to explain the sharp rise in food prices within their states.
“A 49 per cent increase in the cost of eating well in a single quarter, as recorded in Taraba, is not a minor fluctuation. It is a signal that something is wrong in local food markets.
“Silence from government in the face of data this stark is itself a governance failure,” the organisation said.
BudgIT called on state ministries of agriculture and food security to begin publishing quarterly reports detailing market conditions, food price drivers and intervention measures.
It also urged the Federal Government to treat insecurity in the North-West and North-Central as a food security emergency, saying persistent conflicts had disrupted farming activities and pushed rural food prices beyond urban levels in several states.
The organisation further recommended that the National Bureau of Statistics publish detailed state-by-state food basket cost breakdowns alongside existing averages to enable policymakers to design more targeted interventions.
BudgIT said it would continue publishing the healthy diet tracker every quarter to monitor changes in food affordability and support evidence-based policy decisions nationwide.
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