Nigerian Jollof slightly costlier than Ghanaian jollof as average costs rises to N10,882

Nigerian Jollof is slightly more expensive than Ghanaian Jollof, however, using the official Nigerian exchange rate and a country-by-country price list of Chicken Republic shows that the price of Ghanaian Jollof is higher.

This was disclosed by socioeconomic research firm, SBM Intelligence in its first jollof index for the year titled “Remaining within a vicious cycle”.

The Jollof index tracks the costs to cook a pot of jollof rice for a family of five in Nigeria monitoring the prices of essential ingredients like rice, curry, thyme, seasoning, groundnut oil, poultry, beef, pepper, tomatoes, salt, and onions, collated from 13 markets across Nigeria.

Hunger

The report noted that more than 34 million people could face hunger in West Africa by the middle of this year citing the International Rescue Committee, due to Many factors making food insecurity worse, including conflict, climate change, and government policy.

The index to include two cities in West Africa’s second-largest economy, Ghana—Accra and Kumasi—as part of a broader regional edition, they added:

“West Africa faces increased food insecurity aggravated by rising energy costs, climate change, unstable food-producing regions, insecurity, inadequate storage infrastructure, and a lack of agricultural commercialization.

Ghana and Nigeria

The report stated that when comparing the Nigerian and Ghanaian Jollof prices from January to March, Nigerian Jollof is slightly more expensive than Ghanaian Jollof;

“But using the official Nigerian exchange rate, a country-by-country price list of Chicken Republic shows that the price of Ghanaian Jollof is higher.

“These differences in the cost of making a pot of Jollof rice reflect the diversity of challenges faced by different communities; and to address these challenges, governments, and relevant stakeholders must focus on improving agricultural productivity, addressing supply chain inefficiencies, and implementing measures to curb inflation.

Prices

They added that the cost of preparing a pot of Jollof rice has risen to N10,882 in Nigeria, adding:

“Wuse II market consistently ranked as the most expensive for making a pot of Jollof rice, with a cost of N13,700, while Trade Fair in Lagos was the cheapest, with a cost of N8,850.

“Notably, the states with the highest percentage increases are all located in the South-South region of Nigeria.

For Ghana, they revealed that the cost of making a pot of jollof rice is consistently higher in Accra than in Kumasi throughout the three months.

“In Accra, the cost peaked in February at 294.5 GH₵ before declining to 286 GH₵ in March, while in Kumasi, the cost increased steadily from January (268 GHC) to February (278 GHC) and experienced a slight decrease in March (274 GHC).

“Urban cost differences can account for this. Accra, being the capital city of Ghana, typically has a higher cost of living compared to other cities in the country, including Kumasi.

“This may result in higher prices for ingredients and other essentials in Accra, which could explain the consistent price difference between the two cities.

Backstory

Nairametrics reported last year that The average cost of cooking a pot of Jollof Rice went up from N8,595 to N9,311 at the end of Q2 2022, an 8.3% increase.

The average cost of making a pot of jollof rice went up from N8595 to N9311 at the end of Q2 2022, an 8.3% increase.

“Bauchi had the highest cost at N11,600, followed by Wuse II at N11,300. The noticeable pattern here is that the Northern states had a higher cost of making a pot of jollof rice despite their farming and livestock-rearing occupations.

“This trend is accounted for by increased insecurity in those states. Traders who purchase from the rural markets are boycotting those areas. Transportation costs have greatly increased, not only because of fuel shortages but also because of the risk involved in traveling those kidnap-infested roads.

The report showed that Nigerians employ different coping strategies depending on the household’s previous economic status, as the gap between the poor and the rich widens.