Nigeria targets $3.6bn economic toll of unsafe food

Nigeria’s House of Representatives adopted a motion on Tuesday urging the Federal Government to tighten food safety regulations and enforcement across the country. The legislative push, spearheaded by lawmaker Billy Osawaru, aims to address a mounting public health crisis that carries a heavy macroeconomic toll.

The economic stakes for Africa's largest economy are substantial. Osawaru told lawmakers that poor food handling and production practices cost Nigeria an estimated $3.6 billion annually. These financial losses accumulate through mounting medical expenses, diminished workforce productivity, and international trade restrictions tied to substandard food safety compliance.

This direct financial burden stems from a severe public health challenge. Nigeria records approximately 50 million foodborne disease cases and more than 53,000 related deaths every year. This results in 4.26 million healthy life years lost annually to illness, disability, and premature death, with children under five accounting for over 80 percent of that demographic toll.

Persistent infrastructure deficits are driving these high contamination rates. “Chemical hazards, poor hygiene among food handlers, open defecation, lack of good potable water, especially in rural areas, weak regulatory enforcement by NAFDAC and SON, and inadequate infrastructure in the market and abattoirs are the major factors leading to loss of tens of thousands of healthy lives owing to their exposure to affected foods and perhaps getting contaminated,” Osawaru stated. Furthermore, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has linked recurrent cholera outbreaks across the country directly to these persistent sanitation failures.

To address the crisis, the House directed the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and the NCDC to strengthen inspections and certification throughout the food production and distribution chain. The parliament's committee on healthcare and food safety was specifically mandated to ensure funds for new food testing equipment are included in upcoming supplementary budgets.

For investors and agricultural executives, the motion signals impending regulatory shifts. While Nigeria recently achieved a World Health Organisation benchmark for disease surveillance, stricter enforcement, mandatory handler certification, and new supply chain infrastructure requirements will likely raise compliance costs for producers and distributors in the near term.