Nigeria Food Inflation Cools in August but Hunger Risks Persist

Nigeria's food inflation slowed in August 2026, easing pressure on household budgets even as humanitarian agencies warned that conflict and high production costs continue to drive acute food insecurity across several states.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed food inflation at 19.57% year-on-year in August, down from 25.30% in August 2025. On a month-on-month basis, food prices rose 1.02%, a marked slowdown from the 5.56% recorded in July. Headline inflation eased to 15.39% from 15.43% the previous month, while core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, stood at 13.29%.

Why prices are easing

The bureau attributed the moderation to a more stable exchange rate, the onset of the harvest season and the lagged effect of tighter monetary policy. Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributors to headline inflation, adding 6.16 percentage points, a reminder of how heavily the cost-of-living crisis weighs on ordinary Nigerians.

Lower inflation means prices are rising more slowly, not falling. Many staple foods remain far more expensive than they were two years ago.

The hunger picture

The relief in the price data contrasts with the food security outlook. The Food and Agriculture Organization's Global Information and Early Warning System estimated that about 36.3 million Nigerians, roughly 17% of the population, faced acute food insecurity between June and August 2026. The agency cited conflict and insecurity in Benue, Borno, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara states, the displacement of about 3.7 million people and the strain that high input prices place on cereal production.

Fuel price increases have also raised transport costs, widening the gap between farmgate and market prices and eroding the benefit of a good harvest for consumers in cities.

What would help

Economists and agronomists argue that durable relief requires more than stable prices. Priorities include improving security in farming regions, expanding irrigation and storage to reduce post-harvest losses, lowering the cost of fertiliser and seed, and fixing rural roads so that food can move cheaply from surplus to deficit areas.

With the harvest now underway, inflation may continue to cool into the final quarter. But for millions of displaced and vulnerable households, the more urgent question is access to affordable food, not the direction of the index.

Sources: National Bureau of Statistics CPI report