A FoodPrices Nigeria price analyst visited Agege Market this week and found a grains market where the headline story is not what any single seller is doing today, but what the collective shift in market quotes tells us about where bean prices have moved since February.
When FoodPrices last captured verified seller data at Agege Market in February 2026, sellers were quoting Beans (Oloyin) at N48,000 per 50kg bag. This week, two sellers at the same market quoted the same product at N60,000 and N70,000 respectively. These are different sellers, so we cannot call it a single price movement - but the floor of what Agege traders are asking for Oloyin has clearly shifted upward. The N48,000 quote is gone. The cheapest quote in the market today is N60,000, which is itself 25% above where the February baseline sat. The more expensive seller at N70,000 is 45.8% above that February reference.
Beans (Drum) tells the same story. February sellers quoted N48,000 per 50kg bag. Today's sellers are at N60,000 and N70,000. Beans (White) makes its first verified appearance in Agege's seller-attributed price record, with quotes ranging from N60,000 to N70,000 per 50kg bag this week. The spread between the two sellers captured today - N10,000 on a single product - is itself worth noting. In a functioning market with good price information, that gap tends to narrow as buyers move toward the cheaper seller. Whether it narrows in coming weeks will be one of the things FoodPrices monitors at this market.
At the retail level, the gap between sellers is smaller but still present. A paint bucket of Beans (Oloyin) costs N4,500 with one seller and N5,000 with another. A derica is N900 with one and N1,000 with the other. For daily buyers who are not purchasing by the bag, this kind of retail dispersion matters because they are less likely to shop around across different stalls.
The garri picture is more stable and more encouraging. Garri (White) is quoted at N20,000 per 50kg bag this week, exactly where Lagos Rice was selling it in February. The retail paint bucket has come in slightly lower at N1,300 today versus N1,500 in February, though this is a different seller so we treat it as a market observation rather than a confirmed price cut. Garri (Yellow) shows a modest upward shift at the bag level. The February seller quoted N20,000 per 50kg bag. Today's seller, a different person, quotes N23,000 - the paint bucket price of N1,700 is identical across both, which at least confirms that unit is stable. The 25kg half-bag of Yellow garri is N11,500 today, a first capture at that unit for this market.
Imported Rice (Short Grain) has also seen its market quote shift upward between sellers. The February reference was N50,000 per 50kg bag. Today's seller is at N54,000. Again, different sellers - but the direction is consistent with what FoodPrices is seeing across other Lagos markets this week. The paint bucket is N4,500 today versus N4,000 in February, and the 25kg bag is N27,000 on first capture at that unit. At N54,000, Agege's short grain quote sits below the Lagos market average. BusinessDay reported in early April that imported rice is averaging around N61,000 per 50kg bag across Lagos, which makes Agege one of the more competitive sourcing points for this product in the city right now. Buyers can check and compare prices across markets using the FoodPrices compare tool.
Two products make their debut in Agege's verified price record this week. Maize (Yellow) was first captured here on April 9 at N40,000 per 50kg bag and N20,000 for the half, with a paint bucket at N2,000 and a derica at N500. The same seller's prices are unchanged six days later, confirming stability at those levels for now. Okababa (Gero), a millet variety grown primarily in Kano and Kaduna states and consumed heavily in northern Nigeria, also makes its first appearance in this market's records at N45,000 per 50kg bag, N22,500 for the half, a paint at N2,500 and a derica at N600. Its presence in Agege is worth watching. Millet has been appearing more frequently in Lagos markets as households look for affordable grain alternatives during periods of bean and rice price pressure. The NBS food price watch for Q1 2026 identified millet among the grains recording above-average price appreciation nationally, driven by supply tightness from the primary northern producing states.
The broader context behind the bean price shift is not hard to find. Nigeria's food import bill has been under sustained pressure since the naira's sharp depreciation in 2023, and locally grown legumes like beans have not been insulated from the fallout. Fertilizer costs for smallholder farmers in Benue, Niger, and Kwara - the states that supply most of Lagos's beans - remain elevated, with the FAO's Nigeria food security update noting input cost pressures continuing to affect planting decisions into the 2025-2026 growing season. When farm-gate costs rise, market quotes in Lagos follow, often with a lag of several weeks as old stock clears.
What FoodPrices cannot yet say for Agege is which direction prices move next. We have no seller who has been tracked continuously through the February-to-April period at this market. What we can say is that the market's collective asking price for beans has moved materially upward since February, and that two sellers captured in the same week are still N10,000 apart on the same product. Both facts matter for anyone buying or selling in Agege right now.
FoodPrices Nigeria monitors Agege Market on a weekly basis. Live prices are updated as analysts submit. Track current prices and trends at foodprices.ng/real-time-prices and follow the longer price history at foodprices.ng/historical-prices.