The rice shelf at Ajah Market drifted lower between February and June 2026, in contrast to the beans on the next stall. A 50kg bag of My Choice short grain rice held at N75,000 across the weeks of February 2, February 9 and February 23, then eased to N73,000 by March 16 and stayed there into the week of June 1, a slip of 2.7%. Vitali long grain moved more, from N70,000 a bag across February to N65,000 by June 1, a fall of 7.1%. Imported short grain rice traced a shallow arc, from N58,000 in the week of January 26 up to N63,000 by March 16, then back to N60,000 by June 1.
Not every grade fell. Imported long grain rice firmed from N70,000 in the week of January 26 to N73,000 by March 16, and My Food short grain entered the Ajah data at N76,000 a bag in the week of March 16 as a first verified capture. The overall direction, though, is a market where the most widely bought bags cost a little less by mid-year than they did in late winter.
The softening lines up with the national rice story. BusinessDay reported that the price of a ton of paddy had slumped 51% from its 2025 peak under a surge of cheap imports and smuggling, helped by a cut in rice import duty to 47.5% from 70%. The USDA projected in March 2026 that Nigeria's rice planting area would shrink 7% in the coming season as low farmgate prices discourage planting. A market awash with cheaper imported grain is consistent with the gentle decline in Ajah's branded bags.
For a household stocking up, the practical read is that rice at Ajah has become a modest saving relative to February, while the premium grades like My Choice remain the costliest option on the shelf.
Live readings sit on the Ajah Market real-time prices page, and grades can be lined up on the compare tool or tracked on the grain price index.