Pepper has completed a full round trip in Lagos. FoodPrices Nigeria data from the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems market survey shows the mean price of Pepper (Rodo) across 10 markets at ₦1,820 per kg in the week of 23 October 2026, down 2.15% from ₦1,860 a week earlier. That is 4.21% below the ₦1,900 recorded in the second week of January, and 61.36% below the 2026 peak of ₦4,710 in the fourth week of June.
The Whole Pepper Family Has Retreated
Tatashe now averages ₦1,910 per kg, down 2.55% on the week and 56.34% below its 2026 high of ₦4,375 in the third week of June. It is 4.50% cheaper than the ₦2,000 it cost in January. Shombo averages ₦1,880, down 3.59% on the week and 55.82% below its June high of ₦4,255. Shombo is the only pepper still above its January price, at 3.01% over the ₦1,825 recorded then.
A household buying 1kg each of rodo, tatashe and shombo paid ₦13,250 in the fourth week of June at that week's means. The same basket costs ₦5,610 today, a ₦7,640 or 57.66% reduction. Over October alone, the three peppers have fallen by between 12.79% and 12.96%.
Agbalata Loses Its Edge
The cheapest place to buy pepper has changed. In early October, Agbalata Market was the cheapest market in Lagos for all three peppers. Since then its rodo price has risen from ₦1,200 to ₦1,900 per kg, a 58.33% increase against the citywide trend, and its tatashe and shombo prices have edged up to ₦1,500 and ₦1,300. Ile-Epo Market is now the cheapest for rodo at ₦1,000 and for shombo at ₦1,200. The dearest rodo is ₦2,200 at Oyingbo Market, a 120% premium on Ile-Epo, and the dearest shombo is ₦2,400 at the same market.
Prices have also converged. Tatashe now sells for ₦2,000 per kg in eight of the 10 markets surveyed, with only Ile-Epo at ₦1,600 and Agbalata at ₦1,500 below that.
What Other Surveys Say
BrandSpur reported on 26 October that pepper has become cheaper in Lagos, with a trader at Costain quoting a small basket at ₦20,000, down from ₦30,000 to ₦40,000 in September, and noting that customers were buying larger quantities as prices fell. The Nairametrics Food Price Watch recorded a big bag of pepper down 20% to ₦80,000 and a medium bag down 11.11% to ₦40,000 in September. Legit.ng listed pepper among ten items that became cheaper in Nigeria that month. All three agree with the direction in FoodPrices Nigeria data.
Live prices: foodprices.ng/real-time-prices/?category=Vegetables