Agriculture & Industry Sowing The Seeds For Sustained Growth In The Agri Sector
NIGERIA
NEXT LEVEL
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Nigeria returns to its fields to unlock its potential to become Africa’s agricultural powerhouse, eliminating its high import bill, providing employment for all and generating national income through complex value chains.
Nigeria’s economy has always been sustained by, and rooted in, agriculture. Following its independence in 1960, agriculture was the mainstay of the economy, accounting for 57% of national GDP and responsible for 64.5% of export earnings, providing the nation with its main source of employment, as well as developing further opportunities and possibilities for the nation. Indeed, with 84 million hectares of arable land and favourable climes for a variety of crops, Nigeria was one of world’s most promising agricultural producers. Agriculturally self-sufficient and food secure, it was the world’s largest groundnut and palm oil producer, the second largest exporter of cocoa and an important producer of cotton. By 1965, 70% of the national labour force was employed within the agricultural sector and northern cities, such as Kano, had become regional economic hubs, while national development plans focused upon the modernisation of agricultural methods through farm settlements, co-operative plantations, supply of improved farm implements and expanding agriculture were set up. Following the oil boom in the 1970s, however, the agricultural sector lost its drive as Nigeria’s focus shifted to petroleum exploration and exportation. Between 1975-1979 agricultural input to the national GDP dropped drastically to 25%, with the consequence of a decline in the exportation of crops,
such as palm oil, peanuts and cotton; suddenly Nigeria was forced to become a food-importing country. By 1975, Nigeria was forced to import basic commodities, such as rice and cassava for domestic consumption, spending US$11 billion a year on wheat, rice, sugar and fish imports alone. Since the 1960s, a number of agricultural research institutes have been established in the country and various governmental programmes implemented such as: the National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP) launched in 1972 and the 1980 Green Revolution. The World Bank-funded Agricultural Development Projects (ADP) laid down the foundation for a returned focus upon agriculture and the nation’s reliance upon small scale farmers for increased food production, putting into action the value chain approach, from field to mill to table. In 1982, in the first attempt to make a return to building up industrial crop production, the government disbanded produce marketing boards, motivating farmers to cultivate tree crops, while federal and state governments set up oil palm, rubber and cacao plantations. From 2011-2014, the Agricultural Transformation Agenda grew national food production by 21 million metric tonnes and led to a reduction in food imports while creating 3.5 million new jobs in agriculture and food-related industries. An Electronic Wallet System was set up so that five million smallholder farmers were able to receive subsidised electronic
