Beans are the cheapest protein most Lagos households have access to, which makes the price of a single paint a direct constraint on how much protein a family eats. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems market survey for the week of 17 July 2026 records Beans (Oloyin) at a Lagos average of ₦4,820 per paint. Against a minimum wage of ₦70,000 a month, that single measure absorbs 6.9% of a month's income.
The Same Purchase, Two Very Different Burdens
Where a household shops changes that share substantially. At Fresh Food Hub Mushin, a paint costs ₦3,500, which is 5.0% of a monthly minimum wage. At Ajah Market it costs ₦6,000, or 8.6%. A household buying two paints a month spends 10% of the minimum wage at the first price and 17.1% at the second, on one item.
Between the Two Extremes
Eight markets fill the space between. Mile 12 Market and Agbalata Market both quote ₦4,200 and Agege Market ₦4,500. Sabo Market Yaba and Mushin Market sit at ₦4,800, Ile-Epo Market at ₦5,000, Oyingbo Market at ₦5,500 and Epe Main Market at ₦5,700. The dearest quote stands 71% above the cheapest.
Cheaper Than Last Year, Dearer Than Last Month
The Lagos average eased 2.0% from ₦4,920 in the prior survey and sits 8.2% below the ₦5,250 of 9 January, but it is 6.2% above the ₦4,540 of four weeks ago. The annual improvement traces back to harvest recovery. The Cowpea and Beans Farmers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria told the News Agency of Nigeria, in reporting carried by Punch and Nairametrics, that better yields had brought a 100kg bag down to between ₦80,000 and ₦120,000 from ₦210,000 to ₦240,000 a year earlier.
The Recent Climb Has a Clear Source
The monthly rise sits alongside a difficult season in the producing states. BusinessDay reported sustained attacks across Plateau and Benue at the peak of the 2026 planting season, with farmers requiring escorts to reach their fields. The All Farmers Association of Nigeria told Leadership that fertiliser, seed and labour costs had all risen this year, in a report that also carried FAO projections of about 35 million Nigerians facing acute hunger in the June to August lean season. Sahara Reporters reported that the National Bureau of Statistics named cowpea among the specific items lifting food inflation in June, which agrees with the direction of the four week figure in this survey.
When the Paint Is Out of Reach
Households that cannot commit 5% to 8.6% of a month's income in one purchase buy smaller. The same survey put Beans (Drum) at ₦967 per derica, the smallest measure traders sell, which is where families move when the paint price climbs. Buying that way costs more per unit of beans over time, but it spreads the outlay across the month rather than concentrating it in a single trip. The choice between measures is therefore a cash flow decision as much as a price one, and it is the decision most Lagos households on the minimum wage are actually making.
What the Lean Season Adds
The months before harvest are when a wage-relative price bites hardest, and this year the pressure is documented. National Daily reported Famine Early Warning Systems Network projections of between 31.8 million and 35 million Nigerians facing acute food insecurity during the 2026 lean season, alongside estimates that cultivated area across northern farming communities had fallen about 8% over the past year. Daily Post reported armed groups imposing levies on farming communities in Katsina and Sokoto before cultivation could begin, with a state chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria warning that smallholders producing ten to fifteen bags are the ones feeding the country. Cowpea reaching Lagos passes through that corridor, which is why a paint of beans can cost 8.6% of a month's wage in one market while the national harvest picture looks stronger than last year.
Variety and Geography
Beans (Drum) averaged ₦4,322 per paint in the same survey week, placing Oloyin 11.5% above the drum variety. Ajah Market is the only market on the Ajah and Lekki axis reporting an Oloyin price this week, and its ₦6,000 stands 28% above the mainland average of ₦4,689. Buying at Fresh Food Hub Mushin rather than Ajah saves ₦2,500 per paint, equal to 3.6% of a monthly minimum wage.
FoodPrices Nigeria tracks both bean varieties across every reporting market each survey week. Live prices: foodprices.ng/real-time-prices