₦30,435 for a pot of jollof: inside the number that measures Lagos hunger
SBM Intelligence's Jollof Index made headlines in April 2026 when it showed the cost of cooking jollof rice for a family of five had hit ₦30,435 — a 19.4% increase in six months, consuming over 40% of Nigeria's ₦70,000 minimum wage. The index, which has tracked this single dish since 2015, has become the country's most cited measure of food inflation, more visceral than any NBS percentage because every Nigerian knows exactly what a pot of jollof costs. Our calculator uses the same methodology but with live Lagos market prices and covers 12 dishes, not just jollof.
The cost gap between dishes reveals how Lagosians cope. Garri soaked in water with groundnuts costs ₦300 per person — the absolute floor of Lagos eating. Indomie noodles with egg runs ₦940. Beans and plantain delivers real protein at ₦1,400. Jollof rice at ₦2,764 per person is a mid-range meal. Pounded yam with efo riro, at nearly ₦4,000 per person, is a luxury that many families now reserve for Sundays. The progression from garri to pounded yam maps almost exactly onto Lagos's income distribution — and the gap is widening.
The calculator shows something the Jollof Index doesn't: which ingredients drive the cost. For jollof, chicken alone accounts for 43% of the total (₦5,900 out of ₦13,818). Replace chicken with eggs (₦580 for 3) and the pot drops to ₦8,498 — a 38% saving. This is the substitution math that millions of Lagos families do unconsciously every week: switch from chicken to eggs, from rice to garri, from pepper soup to plain hot water with salt. The calculator makes this visible.
The 'cheapest market' feature adds another layer. The same jollof pot that costs ₦13,818 at Mile 12 might cost ₦12,900 at Daleko, where bulk grain prices run 3-5% lower. Over a month of cooking, that ₦900 difference per pot adds up to ₦10,800 — enough to cover 3 extra meals. In a city where transport to market itself costs ₦500-₦2,000, knowing which market offers the best price for your specific shopping list is genuinely valuable intelligence.