Lagos vegetable prices fell again in the week of 14 August 2026. Of the six vegetables tracked across the city's ten markets, four recorded lower means than on 07 August and two were unchanged. The figures come from the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems market survey, and every price is a mean across markets rather than the quote of any single trader.
What the Basket Costs Now
Tomatoes average ₦2,190 per kilogramme, down 7.2% from ₦2,360. Pepper (Rodo) averages ₦3,660, down 5.4% from ₦3,870. Tatashe averages ₦3,560, down 5.6% from ₦3,770. Shombo averages ₦3,600, down 4.9% from ₦3,785. Onions held at ₦1,000 and Sweet Potatoes held at ₦790. All six lines rest on all ten markets this week, the fullest coverage in the dataset.
A kilogramme each of tomatoes, rodo, tatashe and shombo, the base of a Nigerian stew, costs ₦13,010 at this week's means against ₦13,785 a week earlier, a saving of ₦775 or 5.6%.
Do Not Call These Prices Low
The same basket cost ₦10,079 on 1 May. Even after weeks of falling, it remains 29.1% more expensive than it was fifteen weeks ago. Tatashe carries the largest residual increase at 36.3% above its 1 May level, followed by shombo at 33.9%, tomatoes at 26.2% and rodo at 20.2%. What the data shows is a retreat from a June and July peak, not a return to earlier prices.
The Harvest Arrived Roughly On Schedule
The direction was forecast. TheWhistler reported in late June that the Tomatoes Growers and Processors Association of Nigeria expected prices to decline considerably from August once wet season harvesting began, with its Kaduna State chairman Rabiu Zuntu attributing the spike to the seasonal gap between the end of dry season production and the start of rainy season cultivation. The Lagos series agrees with that timing. Tomatoes peaked at ₦2,730 in the week of 24 July and have fallen in each of the three captures since.
The pepper category moved earlier. Rodo, tatashe and shombo all peaked in the second half of June and have declined since, which points to the harvest calendar rather than to conditions at any single market. The Eagle Online reported the Tomatoes and Orchard Producers Association of Nigeria expecting a fuller crash in October, when harvests arrive from Jos, Kaduna, Kano and Gombe alongside south western supply from Ogun, Ondo, Oyo and the Badagry and Epe areas of Lagos. On that view the current decline is a first stage rather than the finish.
Two Items Sat the Cycle Out
Onions and sweet potatoes participated in neither the climb nor the fall. Onions have moved only between ₦930 and ₦1,010 across twelve weekly captures, a total range of 8.6%, and finish the period 5.3% above 1 May. Sweet potatoes spiked to ₦925 in the week of 24 July and have unwound 14.6% of that, sitting 9.7% above 1 May. Both store far longer than tomatoes or fresh pepper, which is why a single harvest arriving does not reset their price.
Agbalata Is the Cheapest Vegetable Market in Lagos
Agbalata Market holds the cheapest mean for tomatoes at ₦1,000, rodo at ₦2,200, tatashe at ₦1,400 and shombo at ₦1,300. The four item basket costs ₦5,900 there against the ₦13,010 city mean, which is 54.6% below the average. Agbalata is also the dearest market for both items that did not fall, charging ₦1,100 for onions and ₦1,200 for sweet potatoes.
The National Reading Disagrees
Leadership reported that the National Bureau of Statistics put food inflation at 20.31% year on year in July 2026, up from 17.52% in June, with headline inflation easing to 15.43%. The Digger News reported that the bureau named fresh pepper, onions and tomatoes among the items behind that increase. A monthly national comparison and a Lagos weekly one can describe the same commodity very differently, and this week the Lagos series is falling.
A Note on Coverage
No weekly vegetable records exist between 26 June and 24 July, so the July trajectory in this series is not continuous. Records before 1 May come from a different capture process on markets outside the Ministry's ten and are excluded entirely.
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