Nigeria, Aug. 19 -- Biola Abayomi pleaded with the butcher for the umpteenth time, her demeanour pitiful. 46-year-old Mrs Abayomi, a fashion stylist and mother of two children, appears desperate to purchase a cut of beef at N2,000, but the butcher disagrees, their voice drowned out by the chatter of traders and passersby at the Sango-Ota market in Ogun State. It's the second week of August, and Mrs Abayomi told PREMIUM TIMES she hadn't bought beef since the first quarter of the year, due to its sky-high prices. The middle-aged woman would later wobble away from the butcher's stall, amid lamentation.

"We have been eating smoked fish (Panla) and cow skin (ponmo) for months, and it means I'd have to return to cow skin sellers' stalls, anywa...