Nigeria cost of living: People turn to 'throw-away' rice for food - BBC News

"Afafata" rice is usually discarded but rising prices mean many northern families are now eating it.

12 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Sani HamisuImage caption, Afafata rice is normally discarded as not saleable at the end of the sorting processBy Mansur AbubakarBBC News, AbujaAs the rising cost of living continues to bite, many in northern Nigeria are turning to rice grains that millers normally reject after processing or sell to farmers to feed their fish.

These are referred to in the Hausa language, widely spoken in the north, as afafata, which means "battling" because they are literally a battle to cook and eat as the grains are so hard.

"A few years ago, people didn't care about this type of rice, and we usually threw it away along with the rice hulls, but times have changed," Isah Hamisu, a rice mill worker in the northern city of Kano, told the BBC.

Despite the grains being broken, dirty and tough, afafata's cheaper price has made it more attractive for humans and helped poorer families to be able to afford to eat one of the staple foods in the country.

Fish farm owner Fatima Abdullahi said her fish love it but because people are now eating afafata, its price has risen.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68272830?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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