COVID-19, Social Distancing, and Food Prices in Nigeria

* This is part of our series on the nexus between COVID-19 and food systems.

The most recently discovered infectious disease COVID-19 is purported to have began in Wuhan, China, around November-December 2019 though traces of the virus have been found in Barcelona, Spain as early as March 2019 (June 29, 2020, Global News). The novel virus has spread across many countries and is now a pandemic, affecting many global economies. Since the disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from nose or mouth, tiny aerosols in the air or through contact with surfaces, it necessitated keeping distance of at least one meter, but usually two between people. The World Health Organization and other epidemiologists have raised people’s awareness of the need for social distancing, which became crucial to curb the spread of the virus. When Edward Hall a cultural anthropologist, in 1963 conceived the word proxemics to describe research regarding social distancing in daily living, it was generally unimaginable that a virus, which was 100 times much smaller than even a bacteria, could cause a dire concern regarding proximity in humans, though knowledgeable people remembered the devastating effects of the 1918 H1N1 pandemic flu which killed upwards of 500 million people (CDC &P, Mar. 20, 2020) . 

Iyana-Iyesi Market, Ota, Ogun State 

The Nigerian Food Market and the Lockdown Waves

Globally, there have been concerns, anxiety, desperate measures because of the pandemic. Issues ranging from hygiene, isolation, and social distancing has been topical in these times. Nigeria is known as the most densely populated black nation globally, with over 200 million people. For Nigeria, the story has been no different; the country has been through waves of lockdowns and movement restrictions over the past months to alleviate the spread of the virus. However, stopping peoples' gathering has been impracticable for the country, as much as the government attempted severally to achieve with the imposition of movement restrictions. For instance, the food markets have not been closed all through the pandemic. The best that was attained was the reduction in the number of days the markets opened at the inception of the first two weeks lockdown, which started March 30, 2020. 

An unmindful Shopping Attitude of Nigerians

The average Nigerian has a very queer shopping attitude, believing that they must physically be in the market to shop. The structures of the market fit a chaotic description, especially for the major ones. The typical Nigerian market is a picture of congestion and chaos. In this situation, a customer may negotiate with about five sellers before eventually buying an item, and physically touching then wares at will. Also, shoppers do not have access to mobile money or online transfers; hence they shop with cash, are delayed further in the market, collecting their balance from a transaction. Social or physical distancing is impossible in this sort of setting, especially where the people do not have a good understanding of how the disease spreads. However, a small proportion of shoppers do not physically appear in the market; rather they place their orders via social media platforms like the WhatsApp group forum. This has been in existence before the pandemic and further entrenched during the period of the outbreak, particularly for those who are quite aware of the essence of social distancing, and have sufficient money to pay for the suppliers’ commission and delivery charges.

Bodija Market Ibadan

Food Supply Shortage and Price Hikes

The lockdowns and the gradual easing of the movement restriction aimed at reducing the spread of the disease, has resulted in dire economic effects globally, and Nigeria has not been left out of this global recession. This period led to a reduction in access to credit, farm inputs, transport services to transport food, and the closure of the borders which also resulted in the shortage of food importation. The situation, as mentioned earlier, resulted in a limited supply of food, which also caused a rise in food prices. The consumer price index for food has been on the increase all through the pandemic period. From 14.9 percent in February 2020 to 15.18 percent in June 2020, showing an increase of about 0.28 percent within only four months, and a forecasted increase to 17 percent which is expected by September 2020¹ (Trading Economics, 2020).

These increases have been relative. They have cut across all kinds of food items, ranging from potatoes, yams, other tubers, bread, fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and even food convenience products.  the food price rise varies relatively across the country. The worst-hit by food inflation has been in Sokoto, Plateau, Gombe, Edo, and Kano states, with rates 17.12 percent, 16.99 percent, 16.96 percent, 16.71 percent, and 16.45 percent (year-on-year) respectively. At the same time, the states with the least food price rise were Bayelsa, Katsina, Bauchi, Nasarawa, and Ondo states with rates 11.89 percent, 13.04 percent, 13.04 percent, 13.5 percent, and 13.53 percent respectively (Nairametrics, 2020). 

Consequently, after the lockdown, the price of food items has consistently been on the increase. For instance, a paint bucket of Cassava flakes (Gaari) used to sell for ₦400 but now trades at ₦800,  a 100 percent price increase. A big bag of pepper which formerly sold for ₦7,000, now sells for ₦15,000, indicating a price increase of 114.3 percent. In the same vein, other commodities as well show price hikes. Products like onions, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, fish, rice, palm oil, and beans recording percentage increases of 30.77 percent, 150 percent, 127.3 percent, 9.52 percent, 5.84 percent, 22.73 percent, and 15.75 percent respectively (Nairametrics, 2020).

The Resolve of Nigerians to Survive the Pandemic

Meanwhile income and means of livelihood have been on the decline since the pandemic’s inception. Employers of labour including banks have laid off staff and introduced salary cuts. Entrepreneurs and business owners have experienced a slow business trend and hence lower income. How then could people be able to cope in this precarious circumstance? How are ends supposed to meet, when even the basic needs of life like food, cannot be provided? How could the populace manage to access the vaccines when they are available? The palliatives provided by the government at the inception of the lockdown in March 2020 have been long exhausted. The private sector interventions by well-meaning Nigerians and the private sector intercessions like CA-COVID are also depleted. Yet, the people are resilient and determined to survive. A dire need for an economic transformation is desired for Nigeria. What will become of the inequality gap for Nigeria? Will it increase?

References

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Mar. 20, 2019. ‘1918 Pandemic (H1N1 Virus). https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic h1n1.html#:~:text=It%20is%20estimated%20that%20about,occurring%20in%20the%20United%20States.

‘Coronavirus traces found in Spanish sewge sample from Mar. 2019’ June 29, 2020. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/7119856/coronavirus-sewage-barcelona-march-2019/

Trading Economics 2020. Nigerian Food Inflation Forecast. https://tradingeconomics.com

/nigeria/food-inflation

Nairametrics 2020. nairametrics.com/2020/03/17/nigeria-inflation-rate-hits-12-2-as-food-index-rises/

 

Nairametrics 2020. Prices of food items jump across Lagos markets, as traders lament transport fare hike. https://nairametrics.com/2020/06/03/prices-of-food-items-jump-across-lagos-markets-as-traders-lament-transport-hike/

Folasade Adegboye, PhD

Guest Contributor

Department of Banking and Finance

Covenant University. Ota

Nigeria