Two-thirds of households lack money for healthy food – NBS survey

A survey by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS has revealed that two-thirds of households in Nigeria currently lack money to eat healthy and nutritious food. 

 The NBS survey titled, “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024). examined 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.”

The report says that similarly, 63.8 percent 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.”the report says

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.

“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. Many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water. Waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 percent of households using bushes or streets.”