Jimisayo Opanuga
Tomato prices have surged by over 100% in just the past month in Lagos and across other states.
This sudden price increase is predicted to threaten the upcoming Eid El-Kabir celebrations, where jollof rice, a dish heavily reliant on tomatoes, is a staple.
Traders have attributed this price hike to regular seasonal fluctuations in tomato production and claimed that with the arrival of the wet season across the country, the harvest period for the current species of tomatoes on the market is nearly complete.
A tomato seller at Lagos State’s Mile 12 market, Umar Tanko, told Nairametrics that a basket of premium quality fresh tomatoes, which sold for between N50,000 and N80,000 in April, now sells for between N140,000 and N150,000.
Lower-quality tomatoes that have been damaged during the journey from the North to the South are currently selling for between N60,000 and N100,000, depending on the severity of the damage. Last month, in April, a basket of similar quality went for N30,000.
Fresh peppers, another crucial jollof rice ingredient, have witnessed a similar price hike, nearly doubling in cost over the last month.
Umar said a custard bucket of pepper sold for N3,000 or N4,000 last month now sells for N8,000.
Shefiu, another tomato seller in Ikorodu, also stated that the spike in tomato prices can be attributed to the reduced supply following the onset of the rainy season.
“We sold a custard bucket of tomatoes last month for N4,000 and N5,000. But now, I sell it for N10,000. Mine is cheap because I have someone supplying me directly from Kano. I don’t buy from Mile 12,” Shefiu said.
He also noted that importing tomatoes from Cameroon and Ghana could help alleviate the supply shortage.
Across Lagos, similar price hikes are reported in other major cities like Edo, Abuja, and Delta, with residents from these areas feeling the pinch.
Some reported they can’t buy less than N500 worth of tomatoes, with a basket costing N120,000 to N140,000.
In Onitsha, Anambra State, the price of a basket of tomatoes ranges from N110,000 to N140,000.
Meanwhile, in April, the NBS Food Price Watch reported that the price of 1kg of tomatoes had risen year-on-year by 131.58% between April 2023 and April 2024. However, between March and April 2024, the average price of 1kg of tomatoes increased by 17.06%.
According to a recent SBM Intelligence Jollof Rice Index, the average cost of cooking jollof rice in the country’s major cities rose to N17,000 in March 2024 from N13,106 in October 2023.
