As the rising cost of living continues to bite, many in northern Nigeria are turning to rice grains that millers normally reject after processing or sell to farmers to feed their fish.

These are referred to in the Hausa language, widely spoken in the north, as afafata, which means "battling" because they are literally a battle to cook and eat as the grains are so hard.

"A few years ago, people didn't care about this type of rice, and we usually threw it away along with the rice hulls, but times have changed," Isah Hamisu, a rice mill worker in the northern city of Kano, told the BBC.

Despite the grains being broken, dirty and tough, afafata's cheaper price has made it more attractive for humans and helped poorer families to be able to afford to eat one of the staple foods in the country.

Fish farm owner Fatima Abdullahi said her fish love it but because people are now eating afafata, its price has risen.
Prices in Nigeria are increasing at their fastest rate for nearly 30 years. On top of global pressures, President Bola Tinubu's cancellation of the fuel subsidy plus the devaluation of the currency, the naira, have added to inflation.

A standard 50kg (110lb) bag of rice, which could help feed a household of between eight and 10 for about a month, now costs 77,000 naira ($53; £41). This is an increase of more than 70% since the middle of last year and exceeds the monthly income of a majority of Nigerians.

In the face of this many are struggling to cope and in some states there have been cost-of-living protests.
Earlier this month in Niger state, central Nigeria, protesters blocked roads and held placards saying that they were being suffocated by the rising prices.

A few days later there was a similar demonstration in Kano in the north-west. In the aftermath, Governor Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf admitted there was starvation in his state and said a solution must be found.

The solution, for now, for some is found in afafata.
Hajiya Rabi Isah, based in Kano state, told the BBC that if it were not for this type of rice her children would go hungry as she cannot afford the normal kind.

"Normal rice is 4,000 naira ($2.70) per bowl which is beyond my means, I can only afford afafata which is 2,500 naira ($1.69) now," she said. One bowl of rice from the market can feed an average family in Kano for a day.

"Without afafata, feeding my family would be a major issue for me."
Market sellers have also noticed a difference.

Saminu Uba, who works in Kano's Medile market, said the afafata side of his business is booming.

"Most people can no longer afford normal rice and they come for this which is cheaper even though it tastes less good," he told the BBC.

One of his customers, Hashimu Dahiru, admits people are having to find ways of adapting.

"The cost of goods is alarming - in just two months the price of everything has doubled,'' he said.

"Our wives spend hours removing stones and dirt from the rice before cooking and even then it ends up tasting not nice, but we have to eat to survive."

The presidency has said it is doing all it can about the situation, including the distribution of more than 100 tonnes of grains such as rice, millet and maize in the hope that it would cushion the effects of inflation and help lower the market price.
But the president's aide Bayo Onanuga upset many recently when he said that Nigeria still had one of the lowest costs of living in Africa.

The increasing price of rice is not a new problem though.
President Tinubu's predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, banned the importation of rice to encourage more Nigerian farmers to grow the crop, but local producers have been unable to meet the demand.

Before then Nigerian markets were filled with rice from Thailand at an affordable price for many.
Mr Tinubu has lifted import restrictions, but now the shortage of foreign currency and the falling value of the naira has made bringing in rice trickier.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68272830

In 2015. We told them in simple and basic English.

You do not remove a nagging wife which was GEJ and replace her with a road side prostitute. It was the analogy I gave them.

I told my friends voting for these people then that you do not on no occasion vote for a Buhari.

A Buhari is the road side prostitute who will sleep with your neighbors and friends.

Either you replace GEJ with someone better or you leave him there. The ones coming will make things worst for us. His antecedents are glaring.

But with stupid emotions,they didn't listen so some of us stayed away from the polls in 2015. I wasn't ready to vote for GEJ again,but it would be over my dead body I would vote for Buhari because I know who exactly he was.

Coming down to 2023, The one taking over from him was even worst than him. All he said was Emilokan. He never promised us anything whatsoever.

It was just about him and his EGO. While a candidate was telling you and telling us we have to move from consumption to production. Mr Emilokan proudly said " shey na statistics we go chop"

How a presidential candidate can say that and so callee educated people still voted and campaigned for him is one of the wonders of the 21st century

24hours before his inaguration. I said it in black and white on my status that he will be worst than Buhari. Apart from the fact that he said he would continue from where Buhari stopped, Himself and Buhari are nothing but birds of the same feather

The Economy that was the fastest growing in Africa when they got power,has turned to the poverty capital of the world and our people are now poorer than they have ever been since 1960

See,This is just the beginning. We haven't started and we haven't seen anything yet at all

Brace up fellow Nigerians!

It is so obvious now thst the political class are so heartless. Expecially this demonic APC

Tell these people to stop having too many kids. You keep popping out kids you can't look after then you moan about it.

Why wouldn't there be a rise in poverty and crime when the kids lose hope and resort to other ways to survive.

Clueless and confused government


Nigeria has gone to the dogs indeed and only God can redeem the whole systems SMH

Nigerians don dey drag food with alamajiri

Una never see anything,
shege banza pro max loading.


I'm only concerned with the current price of Toto

If Tinubu can fight Fulani bandits disrupting farmers across Nigeria things wouldn't have been this bad but he's pampering them because of politics

Botragelad:
Tell these people to stop having too many kids. You keep popping out kids you can't look after then you moan about it.

Why wouldn't there be a rise in poverty and crime when the kids lose hope and resort to other ways to survive.

So is it only people with many kids are suffering in Nigeria

This is the end result of the foolishness that started right from "Sai Baba" in 2015, as if same people were blinded or mad in 2019 they reinforced the failure again while chanting 4 + 4. This same set of people in 2023 began singing the "renewed hope" anthem even when they knew the party has performed woefully in the last 8yrs...

Now we are just months into the first 4yrs of the renewed shege and everything is already going worse.. SMH!!

gratiaeo:

So is it only people with many kids are suffering in Nigeria

Mate, how can you be in dire poverty and keep having kids you can't look after. Isn't that being daft.

It's more of a vicious circle that keeps the parents and the children in pain and trouble. It's pointless to have more kids than you can care for, as it only makes things worse and harder.
It would be more wise and responsible to have fewer kids, or none at all, until you are ready and able to give them a proper and respectable life.

The politicians still see nothing wrong in the country. They go about their daily business.

Botragelad:
Tell these people to stop having too many kids. You keep popping out kids you can't look after then you moan about it.

Why wouldn't there be a rise in poverty and crime when the kids lose hope and resort to other ways to survive.

You're wise. True talk. That's why Tinubu is destroying the economy just to punish them. Next time, they will learn to use condoms during coitus.

Na serious die una dey..

Let the poor Nigerians die. They are the worst voters. Nature is simply doing it's natural cleansing of taking away idiots from the equation. The one's with good brains will survive, while the brainless ones who are swayed by a cup rice and a N1,000 during the election will be removed from the equation. The country will be better for it.

In the next election, idiotic politicians won't have mass poverty-stricken idiots who they can bribe en mass to sell their votes, if hunger kills them off.

All things work together for good. There is no need to sugarcoat anything anymore.

Elections have consequences.

Botragelad:
Tell these people to stop having too many kids. You keep popping out kids you can't look after then you moan about it.

Why wouldn't there be a rise in poverty and crime when the kids lose hope and resort to other ways to survive.

Did they start having too much kids today? Tell the illegal president to do his work. He is the problem right now.

a4cube:
Did they start having too much kids today? Tell the illegal president to do his work. He is the problem right now.

t seems you lot have a problem understanding.

Now, if you know the country is in a bad way and you only manage to scrape by, why have kids you can't look after in the long run in case of emergency?
Unlike the one who has few or no kids compared to the one with loads of kids, who do you think is gonna suffer the most from the rubbish economy?`

happney65:
In 2015. We told them in simple and basic English.

You do not remove a nagging wife which was GEJ and replace her with a road side prostitute. It was the analogy I gave them.

If we had kept GEJ (And no, this does not mean we should have voted Buhari, there were 7 other candidates, including KOWA Party's candidate...great candidate too she was)...the same economic issues we were experiencing would have happened.

IN 2014, oil prices crashed. BY the end of the year GEJ was borrowing to pay salaries, AND finding it difficult to maintain subsides...infact in many places fuel was selling way above the offical price.

Unless GEJ had a plan to diversify the economy, we would have still ended up where we were, and we would have still had economic issues.

Seriously, this does not mean APC was the better alternative. The danger in APC was that they were promising increased spending on subsidy...the same subsidy that by the end of 2014 was already difficult to pay.

Fact is, the only way out of economic disaster in 2015, was if the candidate did as Macri is doing in Argentina, and cut subsides and excessive government spending. Neither GEJ Nor Buhari was going to do that, and as we can see, neither has tinubu either.

The problem with Nigeria is that we spend money we don't have helping the poor, and end up not helping them anyway.

The only way things could have been better after the oil price crash is if

1.We increased our tax to gdp ratio

2.We diversifed the economy

3.We totally removed subsides before Feb 2012. Yes, 2012 was the last time we had to remove subsides and absorb the resultant problems without any issues.

Botragelad:
Tell these people to stop having too many kids. You keep popping out kids you can't look after then you moan about it.

Why wouldn't there be a rise in poverty and crime when the kids lose hope and resort to other ways to survive.

Problem is not too many kids, it is not preparing the educational system to train the kids to build the economy

Added population is an advantage. There are many countries who would love to have our fertility rates.

The reason why we think our population is a burden is because most Nigerians do not pay taxes, and most government income does not come from taxes. If the income came from tax, population being large would be a blessing..future tax payers being born, enough tax for the aged pensions and government spending...and more workers to drive the economy.

But because most government spending is in the form of sharing oil money, extra births is an extra burden in essence.

But if attempts are made to increase tax to gdp ratio, that is where we would hear...the poor, we are poor.

We're teaching Peter Obi and Obidients a lesson, even if a bag of rice sells for #100,000, we would still vote Tinubu for a second term.

nairalanda1:


Problem is not too many kids, it is not preparing the educational system to train the kids to build the economy

Added population is an advantage. There are many countries who would love to have our fertility rates.

The reason why we think our population is a burden is because most Nigerians do not pay taxes, and most government income does not come from taxes. If the income came from tax, population being large would be a blessing..future tax payers being born, enough tax for the aged pensions and government spending...and more workers to drive the economy.

But because most government spending is in the form of sharing oil money, extra births is an extra burden in essence.

But if attempts are made to increase tax to gdp ratio, that is where we would hear...the poor, we are poor.

how can you tax Nigerians that are already too poor to feed their families? Do you know how much taxes we already from import duties,VAT, traffic tolls, government issued licences and levies etc. Uncontrolled birthrate is the biggest problem facing the north and APC moronic leaders lack the mental capacity and interest to figure it out and solve it.

nairalanda1:


Problem is not too many kids, it is not preparing the educational system to train the kids to build the economy

Added population is an advantage. There are many countries who would love to have our fertility rates.

The reason why we think our population is a burden is because most Nigerians do not pay taxes, and most government income does not come from taxes. If the income came from tax, population being large would be a blessing..future tax payers being born, enough tax for the aged pensions and government spending...and more workers to drive the economy.

But because most government spending is in the form of sharing oil money, extra births is an extra burden in essence.

But if attempts are made to increase tax to gdp ratio, that is where we would hear...the poor, we are poor.

Well, let's kick off by tackling the main point here. The idea that more population is good for an economy is not always true. Sure, there are some perks to having a large population, like a bigger potential workforce and a bigger consumer base.

But, there are also drawbacks, let's say more competition for resources and more strain on infrastructure and public services. You should also think about the quality of life for people in the population, and whether the benefits of a large population are distributed fairly. I reckon there are problems with the current tax system and government spending that need to be sorted out in Nigeria.

Even if these problems are sorted out, it's not necessarily true that a large population would automatically lead to a stronger economy. Actually, research has shown that countries with lower population growth rates tend to have higher GDP per capita, and a better standard of living overall.

Remember that larger population puts more stress on natural resources and increases the demand for stuff like food etc.

For your info, there are many complicated factors to consider when looking at the relationship between population and economic growth, and it's not as simple as more population equals more economic growth. Lol

greenermodels:
how can you tax Nigerians that are already too poor to feed their families? Do you know how much taxes we already from import duties,VAT, traffic tolls, government issued licences and levies etc. Uncontrolled birthrate is the biggest problem facing the north and APC moronic leaders lack the mental capacity and interest to figure it out and solve it.

Because at the end our tax to gdp is low, and less than 20% of our government income comes from taxes..and less than 30% of taxable Nigerians pay taxes.

Oil, which accounts for 80% of our income is too volatile to serve as as stable base of income

Either we face reality, or we keep relying on oil, which means more borrowing when prices crash or are too low for us.

Seems you choose more borrowing.

Wahala dey come. Am i the only one seeing it?

There is an imminent crisis coming and it worries me. Tinubu has to take charge before muslim fasting commences. I see the north starting a major uprising then. what could fuel this crisis is the increment in Electricity, Gas and PETROL.
Things are quite expensive and there is serious hardship in the land. Also if i where the president i will limit external travels. A coup could occur with the loud support of the north and silent support of the East. Wahala dey come ooo. DSS take note

Tokskob2008:
This is the end result of the foolishness that started right from "Sai Baba" in 2015, as if same people were blinded or mad in 2019 they reinforced the failure again while chanting 4 + 4. This same set of people in 2023 began singing the "renewed hope" anthem even when they knew the party has performed woefully in the last 8yrs...

Now we are just months into the first 4yrs of the renewed shege and everything is already going worse.. SMH!!

And they will proudly repeat the same again and call those that disagree with them haters, they called us wailers , and I remember we told them that he that wails last wails loudest

One day Biafra will leave Yoruba and Hausa to continue with their Nigeria
We are going home

Peter obi must suffer

I stand with Tinubu even at that

The last 4 years of Buhari's rule was my best years so far.

But Tinubu has so much eroded all the gains made in business within 10 months.

It has never been this worst.

Everything is skyrocketing, nothing can be said to be the benefits of being a Nigerian under Tinubu

At least under Buhari, alot of things were subsidised for the common man.

All sane nations of the world subsidised things for her populace.

NAME ONE DEVELOPED COUNTRY WITHOUT SUBSIDY FOR COMMON GOODS AND SERVICES MEANT FOR THE COMMON MAN AND I WILL SHOW YOU A LIAR.

When we were warning them the called us all manners of names.
By the time tinubu will finish his 20 years tenure, they will start dragging grass with cows.
If na lie ask ekiti people

This is a big lie from BBC

Same BBC that said Tinubu never forged his certificate

One thing I know this northerners go begin follow cow eat grass.......na them get the highest poverty rate yet na dem vote nonsense pass.....igbo man no send u a na to Increase price and una no get choice but to buy.....na either you buy or you die na the 2 choices now

happney65:
In 2015. We told them in simple and basic English.

You do not remove a nagging wife which was GEJ and replace her with a road side prostitute. It was the analogy I gave them.

I told my friends voting for these people then that you do not on no occasion vote for a Buhari.

A Buhari is the road side prostitute who will sleep with your neighbors and friends.

Either you replace GEJ with someone better or you leave him there. The ones coming will make things worst for us. His antecedents are glaring.

But with stupid emotions,they didn't listen so some of us stayed away from the polls in 2015. I wasn't ready to vote for GEJ again,but it would be over my dead body I would vote for Buhari because I know who exactly he was.

Coming down to 2023, The one taking over from him was even worst than him. All he said was Emilokan. He never promised us anything whatsoever.

It was just about him and his EGO. While a candidate was telling you and telling us we have to move from consumption to production. Mr Emilokan proudly said " shey na statistics we go chop"

How a presidential candidate can say that and so callee educated people still voted and campaigned for him is one of the wonders of the 21st century

24hours before his inaguration. I said it in black and white on my status that he will be worst than Buhari. Apart from the fact that he said he would continue from where Buhari stopped, Himself and Buhari are nothing but birds of the same feather

The Economy that was the fastest growing in Africa when they got power,has turned to the poverty capital of the world and our people are now poorer than they have ever been since 1960

See,This is just the beginning. We haven't started and we haven't seen anything yet at all

Brace up fellow Nigerians!

baba see we fit nag with this educated illiterates from the south west or the other major illiterates from the north,,nothing will change this fools will still vote tinubu in 2027 .....the best thing to do now is to separate from this animals or they will drag every tribe into the the abyss with them.