The cheapest paint of honey beans in Lagos this week costs little more than half the dearest. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems market survey for the week of 17 July 2026 records Beans (Oloyin) at ₦3,500 per paint at Fresh Food Hub Mushin and ₦6,000 at Ajah Market. Ten markets reported and the Lagos average is ₦4,820, which makes the dearest quote 71% higher than the cheapest.
The Ladder From ₦3,500 to ₦6,000
Fresh Food Hub Mushin stands 27.4% below the citywide average, the deepest discount on any single quote in the beans category this week. Mile 12 Market and Agbalata Market follow at ₦4,200, then Agege Market at ₦4,500. Sabo Market Yaba and Mushin Market both quote ₦4,800, Ile-Epo Market ₦5,000, Oyingbo Market ₦5,500 and Epe Main Market ₦5,700 before Ajah closes the table 24.5% above the average.
Down on the Week, Up on the Month
The Lagos average fell from ₦4,920 in the prior survey to ₦4,820, a 2.0% decline. Against four weeks ago the direction inverts, with the average up 6.2% from ₦4,540. Since 9 January the price is 8.2% lower, down from ₦5,250. That annual softening matches national data by a wide margin. The National Bureau of Statistics reported brown beans falling 44.89% year on year in its April food price watch, as covered by Nairametrics and P.M. News. A separate Ibadan market survey reported by P.M. News found beans down 14.8% from ₦88,000 to ₦75,000 per 50kg bag between late 2025 and June 2026, agreeing on direction.
Why the Month Went the Other Way
Beans reach Lagos from northern producing states, and that corridor has been strained through the 2026 season. BusinessDay reported sustained attacks in Plateau and Benue at the peak of planting, with farmers needing escorts to reach their fields. Daily Post documented armed groups levying farming communities in Katsina and Sokoto before cultivation could start. The National Bureau of Statistics also named cowpea among the items driving food inflation to 17.52% in June, as reported by Vanguard. Freight has added pressure since the survey week, with Politics Nigeria reporting petrol reaching ₦1,400 per litre in late July after Dangote refinery raised its ex-depot price by 13.02%, and Legit.ng reporting Bonny Light crude crossing $100 per barrel against a budget benchmark of $64.85. None of that reached the 17 July figures, which makes the next survey the one to watch.
Oloyin Against Drum, and the Island Line
Buyers weighing varieties have a clear price difference. Beans (Drum) averaged ₦4,322 per paint in the same survey week, which puts Oloyin 11.5% higher for the same measure. Ajah Market is the only market on the Ajah and Lekki axis reporting an Oloyin price this week, and its ₦6,000 sits 28% above the mainland average of ₦4,689.
Nigeria's minimum wage is ₦70,000 a month. Buying at Fresh Food Hub Mushin rather than Ajah Market saves ₦2,500 per paint, equal to 3.6% of that wage on one purchase. A household buying two paints a month keeps ₦5,000, or 7.1% of the minimum wage, on a single protein staple.
What the Data Signals for Buyers
Three readings sit inside this week's beans data and they do not agree. Prices fell 2.0% over seven days, rose 6.2% over four weeks, and stand 8.2% below January. The four week climb is the live pressure, since it lands in the middle of the lean season when stocks thin before the next harvest. Against all three, the ₦2,500 gap between Fresh Food Hub Mushin and Ajah Market remains the largest single figure available to a household. No movement in the citywide average this year has matched what one shopping decision is worth on a single paint of Oloyin.
FoodPrices Nigeria will keep tracking whether the ₦3,500 quote holds as the lean season runs on. Live prices: foodprices.ng/real-time-prices