(Ecofin Agency) - In July 2023, the Nigerian government declared a state of emergency on food security, aiming to implement exceptional measures to combat the growing crisis. In September, the country faced a significant challenge as food inflation surged to 30.64% year-on-year, jeopardizing its pursuit of food self-sufficiency.

According to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), this surge was attributed to the escalating prices of commodities such as palm oil, bread, yogurt, potatoes, and meat, among others. Consequently, Nigeria's annual headline inflation for September 2023 soared to 26.72%, up from 25.8% just a month earlier.

This trend can be linked to Nigeria's heavy reliance on imported food products, despite the self-sufficiency goals set by successive governments. The second quarter of 2023 saw food imports constituting 11.57% of the country's total imports, as reported by the NBS. In addition, factors like climate change and insecurity have exacerbated food insecurity in the country.

Because of the significant impact on the purchasing power of the population, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food security on July 13, granting the state the authority to take extraordinary actions to enhance food supplies and bolster self-sufficiency efforts.

Furthermore, the Nigerian government recently secured over $500 million in funding from multilateral development banks and international financial institutions to revamp food production. These funds will be utilized to foster innovation, develop the agrifood value chain, and establish specialized agro-industrial processing zones, all in a bid to address the escalating food security concerns.