Nigeria, March 17 -- The food inflation rate in February stood at 12.12 per cent, up from 8.89 per cent recorded in the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The NBS inflation report in January showed that the food inflation rate slumped to its lowest level in 14 years, at 8.89 per cent, the first single-digit rate since August 2011, when food inflation stood at 8.66 per cent.

However, in the NBS February inflation report released on Monday, food inflation returned to double digits, climbing to 12.12 per cent, a 3.23 per cent increase from the preceding month.

The statistics office attributed the increase to a rise in the average price of staple foods and vegetables.

"The increase can be attributed to t...