The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems' weekly market survey for Lagos, covering the week of 24 July 2026 and compared with 17 July 2026, shows a food basket that did not move as a unit. Imported rice fell across every format tracked. Garri rose across every variety tracked. The dividing line runs between what Lagos brings in through its ports and what it brings in by road.
What Lagos Pays Now
Rice remains the largest single category tracked, and it leaned lower across almost every format this week. A derica of Imported Rice (Long Grain) had a mean price of ₦1,025 across eight markets, cheapest at ₦900 in Mushin Market and priciest at ₦1,300 in Ajah Market. The paint size of the same rice averaged ₦5,081, the 25kg bag averaged ₦28,562, and the 50kg bag averaged ₦56,938, all lower than the previous week. Imported Rice (Short Grain) also eased, with a derica averaging ₦950, a paint averaging ₦4,700, a 25kg bag averaging ₦26,722, and a 50kg bag averaging ₦53,000. Nigerian Manufactured Rice held broadly flat by comparison, with the derica and paint sizes unchanged at ₦964 and ₦4,843, the 25kg bag up marginally to ₦26,812, and the 50kg bag up slightly to ₦53,312.
Beans showed a split. A derica of Beans (Drum) rose to a mean of ₦989 across nine markets, cheapest at ₦800 in Agege Market and priciest at ₦1,200 in Ile-Epo Market, while a derica of Beans (Oloyin) fell to ₦1,056, cheapest at ₦900 in Ile-Epo Market and priciest at ₦1,300 in Ajah Market. The paint sizes of both varieties eased slightly, with Beans (Drum) averaging ₦4,256 and Beans (Oloyin) averaging ₦4,780.
Garri moved higher across all three varieties tracked. A paint of Garri (White) averaged ₦1,320 across ten markets, cheapest at ₦1,000 in Oyingbo Market and priciest at ₦2,000 in Ajah Market. Garri (Ijebu) averaged ₦1,275 across four markets, and Garri (Yellow) averaged ₦1,511 across nine markets.
Medium Sized Eggs averaged ₦5,560 per crate across ten markets, cheapest at ₦4,000 in Ile-Epo Market and priciest at ₦6,500 in Agbalata Market. Medium Sized Yam recorded the week's most dramatic move, with a mean of ₦3,055 per tuber across ten markets, cheapest at ₦2,150 in Ile-Epo Market and priciest at ₦3,500 in Mile 12 Market.
The Week's Biggest Increases
Garri (White) posted the largest mean increase of the week, rising 4.2% from ₦1,267 to ₦1,320 across ten markets. Beans (Drum) in the derica size followed with a 2.3% rise from ₦967 to ₦989 across nine markets. Garri (Ijebu) rounded out the list of moves of 1% or more, up 1.2% from ₦1,260 to ₦1,275 across four markets.
The Week's Biggest Decreases
Medium Sized Yam led all declines by a wide margin, falling 9.6% from ₦3,380 to ₦3,055 across ten markets. Imported Rice (Long Grain) recorded declines across every format tracked, down 3.8% in the 25kg bag from ₦29,688 to ₦28,562, down 3.5% in the derica from ₦1,062 to ₦1,025, and down 3.2% in the 50kg bag from ₦58,812 to ₦56,938. Medium Sized Eggs fell 3.1% from ₦5,740 to ₦5,560. Imported Rice (Short Grain) in the derica size dropped 2.8% from ₦978 to ₦950, and Beans (Oloyin) in the derica size fell 2.1% from ₦1,078 to ₦1,056. Smaller declines of 1% or more were recorded in Beans (Drum) paint, down 1.5% to ₦4,256, Imported Rice (Long Grain) paint, down 1.5% to ₦5,081, and Imported Rice (Short Grain) paint, down 1.1% to ₦4,700.
The Tariff Cut Behind The Rice Declines
Nigeria reduced its import duty on bulk rice above 5kg from 70% to 47.5%, and on broken rice from 70% to 30%, with effect from 1 July 2026. Milling Middle East and Africa reported the change in April and May 2026 from fiscal policy documents seen by Platts, and traders quoted in that coverage expected importers to begin shipping directly into Nigerian ports rather than routing cargo through Cotonou in Benin Republic, the corridor that has long fed informal rice flows into the country.
That cut landed on a market already carrying surplus. Platts assessments reported by the same outlet in November 2025 found Nigerian rice prices down 32% on oversupply, with a Lagos-based trader describing a structural surplus that would take time to correct as India and Thailand pushed record harvests into West Africa.
The exchange rate worked in the same direction, if more modestly. The naira traded at ₦1,382.33 to the dollar at the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market on 13 July, ₦1,379.64 on 20 July, and ₦1,369.92 on 24 July, firming by roughly 0.9% across the survey window. For a category priced off imports, a stronger naira and a lower duty pull the same way, and every imported rice format in this survey moved lower while Nigerian Manufactured Rice held broadly flat. That contrast is the clearest evidence in this week's data that the driver is an import-side one rather than a general easing.
The Fuel Increase Behind The Garri And Beans Rises
While rice was getting cheaper at the port, moving anything by road got more expensive. Dangote Refinery suspended naira gantry loading on 14 July and switched to dollar-denominated sales, prompting private depots across Lagos, Warri, Port Harcourt and Calabar to raise ex-depot petrol prices above ₦1,200 per litre. The refinery resumed naira sales on 22 July at ₦1,215 per litre, up from ₦1,075 before the suspension, an increase of 13.02%. Filling stations in Lagos and Ogun raised pump prices to around ₦1,300 per litre from roughly ₦1,220 earlier in the same week, with Vanguard reporting Lagos averages moving to about ₦1,350 from ₦1,260.
That is a haulage cost shock landing squarely inside the survey period. Garri, beans and yam reach Lagos markets by road from producing states, and the freight component of their shelf price is far larger than it is for rice arriving by sea. Garri rose across all three varieties tracked, and Beans (Drum) rose 2.3%.
The rises also sit inside a national pattern. The NBS Consumer Price Index for June 2026, released in mid-July, showed food inflation accelerating to 3.75% month-on-month from 2.98% in May, even as headline inflation eased to 15.91% from 15.93%. Vanguard's coverage listed garri and cowpeas among the items driving the food index higher. The CBN's Monetary Policy Committee, meeting on 20 and 21 July, held the policy rate at 26.5% and the cash reserve requirement at 45%, with Governor Olayemi Cardoso citing the need to sustain the moderation in inflation and stabilise the foreign exchange market. Analysts polled by BusinessDay before that meeting had already flagged dollar-denominated fuel pricing as a reason to expect no easing this year.
Two Moves That Do Not Fit
Not everything in this week's basket lines up with the macro picture, and it is worth saying so plainly.
Yam fell 9.6%, the steepest move in the survey, at a time when freight costs were rising and when reporting through 2026 has consistently shown yam prices climbing. Vanguard reported in April 2026 that Lagos tubers had roughly doubled year on year, and Premium Times reported in early July 2026 that Enugu prices had risen steeply again. A seasonal explanation is available, since Nigeria's new yam harvest reaches markets from around August and early supply can move prices quickly, but no reporting to date confirms early harvest volumes arriving in Lagos during the survey week.
Eggs fell 3.1% against a year of rising poultry costs. Nairametrics and Leadership both reported in March 2026 that farm gate prices had risen to around ₦5,500 per crate from ₦5,000 in January on a shortage of day-old chicks, and The Guardian reported continued pressure in May 2026. Nothing identified so far accounts for a weekly decline.
Beans also refuse to move as one. The Drum variety rose while Oloyin fell 2.1% over the identical period, which a freight cost shock alone does not explain. Both are worth watching over the next two surveys before any conclusion is drawn.
For live, continuously updated prices across all markets in this survey, visit https://foodprices.ng/real-time-prices.