As of May 2021, cost of food in Nigeria increased 22.28 percent in May of 2021 over the same month in the previous year. The upward trend is mainly linked to pandemic disruptions and dollar shortages as well as lingering restrictions on imports of certain food items despite the reopening of the country's borders. At the same time, the incessant attacks on farmers and farmlands have prevented farmers from operating at optimal capacity which causes some shortages of goods (National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria, May 2021)

According to WFP March 2021 Market Monitoring Report in Borno and Yobe states, prices of staple foods have generally increased in March 2021 as compared to the same period last year in many markets. Food supplies in the markets are lower and food prices are higher across most monitored markets. Underpinned by the insecurity and Nigeria's Dollar crunch, the continuing inflationary pressure on the food prices in the country to impact negatively on food security throughout northeast Nigeria.

Ultimately, this has led to an increase in cost of the Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) for food, reducing the food access by the already vulnerable households supported by the various government and non-government partners. In Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) and Jere for instance, the Save The Children monthly monitoring indicated that the cost of MEB has increased by about 46% between May 2020 and May 2021.