For many Nigerian families, meat is no longer a regular part of daily meals but a luxury they can barely afford.
At the bustling Kara market in Isheri, between Lagos and Ogun states, 37-year-old vegetable seller Olaide Alarape stood quietly beside a butcher’s stall, calculating how much meat her limited cash could buy. Like millions of Nigerians battling rising food prices, she says beef has almost disappeared from her family’s meals.
“It’s been more than two months since I last bought meat,” she said. “My children love meat, but now meat worth N2,000 is just four tiny pieces. I buy eggs instead because meat that costs N5,000 finishes immediately.”
Across Nigeria, families are increasingly replacing beef, fish and chicken with cheaper alternatives such as eggs, ponmo and low-cost fish as inflation pushes animal protein beyond the reach of low-income households.
Forty-year-old laundry worker Nnena Victor said her four children now survive mostly on garri, noodles and yam meals with little or no protein.
“Meat has become like gold,” she lamented. “We now buy eggs once or twice a week because that’s all we can manage.”
Findings show that protein-rich foods have become significantly more expensive nationwide. Beef now sells for about N8,000 per kilogram, goat meat for around N10,000, while a crate of eggs that once cost less than N2,000 now sells for over N6,000 in many markets.
Nutrition experts warn that the growing inability of families to afford protein could worsen Nigeria’s already severe malnutrition crisis, especially among children and pregnant women.
According to UNICEF, Nigeria has the second-highest number of stunted children globally, while nearly 40 per cent of children under five suffer stunted growth.
James Oloyede warned that inadequate protein intake can weaken immunity, impair brain development and increase the risk of severe acute malnutrition among children.
“When a child is malnourished early in life, it affects brain development and intellectual growth,” he said. “It also raises the risk of illnesses such as malaria, pneumonia and measles.”
Cattle dealers and butchers blame the worsening crisis on the removal of fuel subsidy, rising transportation costs, insecurity and expensive animal feed.
Isa Muhammed explained that cows that once sold for less than ₦700,000 now cost as much as ₦3 million.
“Before fuel prices increased, transporting cattle from Maiduguri to Lagos cost around ₦500,000 per truck. Today, the cost has doubled, while animal feed has risen from ₦1,000 to ₦18,000 per bag,” he said.
Butchers say customers now plead to buy meat worth ₦500 or ₦1,000, with many families unable to afford more than a few tiny pieces for an entire meal.
Health experts fear the trend could create a hidden hunger crisis, where people may consume enough food to feel full but remain dangerously deficient in essential nutrients needed for healthy growth and survival.
