About 172 million Nigerians were unable to afford a healthy diet, the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 report has indicated.
This was stated in a report by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, titled ‘Financing to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms’, which was published recently.
According to the report, as of 2022, about 172 million Nigerians were unable to afford a healthy diet, which was about 78.7 per cent.
It showed that the proportion of the population unable to afford a healthy diet had been increasing steadily since 2017.
From 143.8 million in 2017 to 149 million in 2018, growing to 149 million in 2019 and rising sharply to 162.5 million in 2020. It noted that 167.4 million Nigerians could not afford a decent meal in 2021 and it hit 172 million in 2022.
According to the report, as of 2022, a Nigerian, who could afford a healthy diet, would need about $3.83 per day to be able to do so. Also, the amount needed for a healthy diet since 2017 has been progressively increasing for years.
At the end of December 2022, the naira closed trading against the dollar at N461.5/$1 on the official Investor and Exporter window, indicating that a healthy meal per day would cost about N1,767.55.
