Food is about to get very expensive in Nigeria, here's why [Pulse Explainer]

But seriously, the Russian invasion, terrorism up-north, increased tax tariffs, and global inflation have already made eating almost a luxury. Nigeria may be breaking its last pillar for affordable food supply in the nation.

Flooding?: The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said there are signs that the recent flooding in the country would cause more stress to the food system, affecting harvest and prices.

“The floods that have been happening are going to cause more stress on our food system. We realise that the floods are currently destroying crops and therefore the harvest that is expected will be much less, and it will mean that more of our people will struggle to afford food,” she added.

A Pulse Explainer narrowed down the reason for the recent flooding situation in Nigeria. It said that due to the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon, many Nigerian communities along the courses of River Niger and River Benue have been affected by floods.

The explainer states that the Nigerian government defaulted on an agreement with the Cameroon government; ultimately to the detriment of farms in the food basket of the Nation. (READ HERE)

Occupying a land mass of 32,518sqkm, Benue State lies within the lower River Benue in the middle belt region of Nigeria; the bank to which the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon empties itself.

Benue State is the nation's acclaimed food basket because of its rich agricultural produce which includes Yam, Rice, Beans, Cassava, Sweet-potato, Maize, Soybean, Sorghum, Millet, Sesame, cocoyam etc. The state accounts for over 70% of Nigeria's Soybean production.

After weeks of flooding in Benue, Soybean plants may turn yellow because oxygen for nodule function had been reduced.

This nitrogen deficiency should be temporary. Corn may suffer from 'N' loss through denitrification. Unless more 'N' is supplied, permanent yield reduction is possible.

The floodwaters will deposit silt and residue on leaves of the Cocoyam. Photosynthesis will be reduced until the soil and residue are washed from the leaves by subsequent rain.

Finally, the roots will be damaged, and thus, more susceptible to disease organisms. Disease symptoms may not appear until several weeks or even months after the flood event.

Just as the minister said, harvest will be affected.

In a nutshell, it'll take some time for the Nation's food basket to recover from the terrible flooding situation. This recovery time will mean that there would be a period of food scarcity in Nigeria.

In a free market, it can be expected that the price will increase to the equilibrium price, as the scarcity of the good forces the price to go up.

When a product is scarce, consumers are faced with conducting their own cost-benefit analysis; a product in high demand but low supply will likely be expensive.

Expensive is the good part, we might be heading towards starvation if the Nigerian government does not hold up its end of the agreement with Cameroon since 1977.