A survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that two-thirds of households in the country lack money to eat healthy, nutritious food, an apparent reflection of the country’s multidimensional poverty and the impact of continuous reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians due to rising prices of goods and services.
The survey also showed that households experience 6.7 power blackouts every week.
The NBS survey, “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024),” examines demographics, education, and health trends in Nigeria, comparing data from Wave 4 (2018/19) and Wave 5 (2023/24).
On food insecurity, the survey report stated: “Approximately two out of three households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days.
Similarly, 63.8 per cent 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.
“Between Waves 4 and 5, the proportion of households that reported being worried about not having enough food to eat because of lack of money increased significantly, from 36.9 percent to 62.4 percent.”
On access to energy, the NBS survey revealed that “82.2 percent of urban households have electricity, compared to 40.4 per cent in rural areas.
Nigerian households face an average of 6.7 power blackouts weekly.
“Cooking typically involves traditional three-stone stoves (65.0 percent), primarily using wood as fuel (70.2 per cent), but with use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rising significantly.
