The Lagos State Butchers Association has blamed the recent spike in beef prices on severe flooding in northern Nigeria, which has disrupted cattle transportation routes and increased logistics costs.
The situation has driven the price of beef in major Lagos markets to as high as N7,000 per kilogram, up from N5,000 just a few months ago.
The development was revealed during a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos, which included interviews with market leaders and cattle dealers.
Alhaji Bamidele Kazeem, patron of the association, said the ongoing flooding had made it significantly harder and more expensive to move cattle from northern states to Lagos, a key destination for beef consumption.
“The Lagos State Butchers Association has attributed the recent spike in beef price to transportation challenges caused by flooding in the northern part of the country,” the NAN report read in part.
The report further quoted Kazeem as saying, “The flooding in the North has affected how cows are brought down to Lagos. Transporting them is now more difficult and expensive.”
He noted that beyond the real cost pressures caused by transportation, some traders were exploiting the situation by arbitrarily increasing their prices.
Kazeem noted that apart from transportation-related setbacks, the broader meat supply chain had remained relatively stable.
He emphasized that improving infrastructure, particularly the rail system, could play a key role in stabilising prices in the short term.
The report also highlighted Kazeem’s call for urgent and sustained investment in ranching, describing it as a long-term strategy to address recurring challenges within Nigeria’s red meat value chain.
He commended the Eko Ranching Project, an initiative by the Lagos State Government aimed at promoting local cattle rearing, enhancing hygiene standards, and reducing the state’s reliance on imported livestock. The project is designed to support food security while also improving the livelihoods of butchers and cattle rearers across Lagos.
However, not all traders agreed on the cause of the price hike. Another butcher suggested that in some cases, the increase may have been driven more by price manipulation among middlemen and retailers than by actual supply constraints.