During the pandemic, several Nigerian suburbs saw the price of a pot of jollof rice grow significantly.
And while the world appears to be slowly getting back to normality, the price continues to rise. The culprit? Climate change.
The origins of Jollof rice can be traced back to the 1300s in the ancient Wolof Empire (also called the Jolof Empire), which included parts of today’s Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania. Initially, it was called thieboudienne, prepared with rice, fish, shellfish, and vegetables.
According to The Africa Report, a September 2021 survey of the Jollof Index by the SBM Intelligence shows that the cost of making a pot of jollof rice for a family of five in Nigeria remains high across the country.
In September, a pot of jollof rice cost about 5% more to make – at N8007.50 ($19.41) compared with an average cost of N7,618 ($18.47). However, a more recent survey shows that the cost of Jollof is now much higher.
“One kilogram of rice that I bought at N1,500 now sells at N2,000, and that’s just rice. We haven’t added other commodities like peppers, oil and even chicken. Don’t even get me started on chicken. I bought a kilo and a half of chicken at N6,000 just last week. It used to go for N3,500 at the maximum,” said Temiloluwa Anjonri per the outlet.
Another Nigeria resident told the publication that they can now only afford to eat one meal a day.
This year, the price of the rice that forms the base for the dish went up by 10%. Tinned tomatoes increased by 29%, and the price of onions spiked by a third. The price of turkey, chicken, beef, seasoning and seasonings have also jumped.
The high price of Jollof is an indicator of bigger problems for the nation.
The World Bank predicts that high food prices could force as many as 7 million Nigerians into poverty. For Buhari, tackling climate change and the country’s food deserts are at the top of his administration’s agenda.
In October, President Muhammadu Buhari attended the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), calling for urgent action against climate change.
“I do not think anyone in Nigeria needs persuading of the need for urgent action on the environment. Desertification in the north, floods in the centre, pollution and erosion on the coast are enough evidence,” said Buhari. “For Nigeria, climate change is not about the perils of tomorrow, but what is happening today.”
