Meat Becomes Luxury As Lagos Households Switch To Cheaper Protein

Rising prices of meat, fish and chicken are forcing households across Lagos to rethink their daily meals, reduce protein consumption and increasingly turn to cheaper alternatives as the cost of feeding continues to strain family budgets.

From buying smaller portions of chicken to replacing beef with eggs or preparing meals without meat, consumers say the rising cost of animal protein is changing their eating habits and putting additional pressure on household finances.

Traders, however, attribute the fluctuating prices to increasing supply, transportation, fuel and operating costs, as well as exchange rate movements.

The traders and consumers disclosed this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Oyingbo, Ijora Olopa, Ikotun and FESTAC markets in Lagos on Sunday.

At Oyingbo Market, a mobile butcher, Mr Abubakar Sodiq, said the price of beef had increased from N6,000 per kilogramme in August to N8,000 currently.

He attributed the increase to rising fuel prices and the cost of purchasing cattle. Sodiq, who buys portions of slaughtered cattle for resale rather than whole cows, said his purchasing expenses had also increased considerably.

According to him, the cost of acquiring meat portions rose from approximately N60,000 last year to between N100,000 and N120,000, sometimes reaching N130,000.

Another butcher at the market, Mr Musa Danjuma, said a lap of meat currently sold for between N30,000 and N45,000, depending on its size, compared with about N25,000 in August.

He added that a neck portion of beef now cost approximately N10,000, while stocking his business required between N120,000 and N150,000.

Danjuma described meat as increasingly expensive and scarce but said the price increases had not significantly affected his business.

At Ijora Olopa Frozen Food Market, chicken traders reported fluctuating prices, with some products recording reductions while others remained relatively expensive.

Mrs Mahmoud Ganiyat, a chicken trader, said a carton of soft chicken currently sold for N41,000, while old layer chicken went for N52,000, hard Orobo layer for N53,000 and old chicken for N54,000.

She explained that a carton of Orobo chicken, which sold for N58,000 about two months ago, dropped to N50,000 two weeks earlier before increasing to N53,000.

Ganiyat attributed the fluctuations partly to exchange rate movements, noting that customers reduced their purchases whenever prices increased.

She said the situation had compelled her to reduce her stock purchases from 200 cartons to 150. According to her, some customers who could no longer afford chicken had switched to fish.

Another trader, Mr Akeem Abdullahi, said a carton of fryer chicken currently sold for N39,000, compared with between N41,000 and N42,000 the previous week.

He added that hard Orobo chicken, which sold for N62,000 about two to three weeks earlier, now cost N52,000. Abdullahi attributed the price changes to the rates charged by suppliers in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

He said some customers had also adjusted their purchases, opting for half a kilogramme of chicken instead of a full kilogramme.

Similarly, Mrs Kehinde Rofiat said the price of chicken had declined from N6,500 to N5,500 per kilogramme. She added that a carton, which previously sold for between N58,000 and N60,000, now cost approximately N52,000.

Rofiat blamed the fluctuations on the absence of fixed prices in the market, noting that some customers turned to fish whenever chicken became unaffordable.

Meanwhile, fish traders reported varying price movements depending on the type, size and supply of fish. Mrs Titilayo Balogun, a fish seller at Oyingbo Ultra-Modern Market, said prices of some varieties had remained relatively stable since January.

She said kote sold for N95,000 per carton, N6,000 per kilogramme and N4,000 per piece, while Titus went for N90,000 per carton and N5,000 per kilogramme.

Balogun attributed declining patronage partly to the demolition of houses in some areas, which forced residents to relocate to places such as Ikorodu.

She said the population shift had reduced the number of customers visiting the market and affected the quantities purchased.

Another trader, Mrs Ope Jakande, who sells panla, said a carton of the fish had dropped from N70,000 in August and September to N60,000 currently.

She, however, noted that transportation and other operational expenses continued to increase the cost of running her business.

On eggs, Mrs Rokibat Hamzat, an egg trader at Ijora Olopa, said a crate of small eggs sold for N5,800, while bigger eggs cost N6,200.

She said individual small eggs sold for N200 and bigger ones for N250, adding that prices had remained relatively unchanged in recent months.

Hamzat said customers generally maintained their usual purchasing habits, although patronage sometimes declined on certain days.

Another egg trader, Mrs Williams Chinaza, said a crate currently sold for N6,500, compared with approximately N7,000 some months earlier.

She attributed the price changes to the cost of poultry feed, transportation and other supply expenses. Chinaza said the relatively stable prices had helped sustain sales, although some customers bought only according to the money available to them.

For consumers, however, even slight price increases have translated into difficult decisions about what goes into their daily meals.

Mr Olayinka Oluwafemi, a graphic designer residing on Governor’s Road, Ikotun, said the price of a piece of beef had increased from N100 to N200.

He said the development had reduced his meat consumption by approximately 80 per cent. Oluwafemi added that he sometimes spent between N1,000 and N1,500 on prepared meat, depending on the location.

He said he had increasingly turned to eggs as an alternative source of protein, with each egg selling for between N200 and N250.

Similarly, Ms Chidinma Samuel, a cosmetics seller in Isheri, FESTAC, said her family’s spending on meat had increased from between N3,000 and N3,500 to approximately N5,000 and N6,000.

She also recalled that a large catfish her family purchased for N3,500 last year cost N5,000 when they bought another one three days earlier.

Samuel said rising meat and fish prices sometimes forced the family to prepare cheaper meals without the protein options they would ordinarily prefer.

She added that her mother’s practice of rearing chickens had provided an alternative, allowing the family to slaughter birds when purchasing meat and fish became too expensive.

Another consumer, Mr Habeeb Opeyemi, said he currently spent N5,500 on a kilogramme of chicken, compared with N6,500 some months earlier.

He said he had not significantly reduced his overall consumption because chicken prices sometimes declined. However, he explained that he opted for half a kilogramme whenever prices increased.

For Mrs Adebanke Agbo, a resident of Akanro, Mushin, eggs had become an increasingly important alternative whenever meat or chicken was beyond her budget.

“Once you prepare a tasty stew and add eggs, you are good to go,” she said. Agbo, however, lamented that virtually every food item in Lagos markets had become expensive, making it difficult for households to identify affordable alternatives.

She noted that eggs, which were previously considered an inexpensive source of protein, had also become increasingly costly for many families.

Despite occasional reductions in the prices of some meat, fish and chicken products, consumers said the overall cost of feeding remained high, forcing many households to make difficult adjustments to their diets and spending.

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