Agriculture in Nigeria

A farmers market in Nigeria.

Agriculture in Nigeria is a major branch of the economy in Nigeria, providing employment for 70% of the population. One of the poorest countries in the world, but provide many imports for countries around the world. The sector is being transformed by commercialization at the small, medium and large-scale enterprise levels.[1]

The government office responsible for Agriculture is currently the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Primarily funded by the Federal Government, the Ministry currently superintends almost fifty parastatals operating as either key departments or agencies across the country. The Ministry has 2 major departments namely Technical and Service Departments. Technical Departments: Agriculture (Trees and Crops), Fisheries, Livestock, Land Resources, Fertilizer, Food Reserve & Storage and Rural Development. Service Departments: Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, PPAS (Plan, Policy, Analysis & Statistics) and Co-operatives

The ministry is headed by Honourable Minister Dr. Akinwumi Adesina. Dr. Adesina is a distinguished agricultural development expert with 24 years of experience in developing and managing successful agricultural programmes across Africa. He graduated with Bachelors degree in Agricultural Economics with First Class Honours from the University of Ife, Nigeria (1981), where he was the first student to be awarded this distinction by the University. He obtained his PhD degree in Agricultural Economics in 1988 from Purdue University, USA, where he won the Outstanding PhD Thesis for his research work

Policies

FMARD Policies

This section contains the Policies and legislation for transformation and also Key policies for success by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The following policies below are highlighted.

   Fiscal Policies
   Domestic Content for Food (Enabling Legislations)
   Industrial Policies
   Financial Service Policies
   Agricultural Policies

Fiscal Policies

   Zero tariffs (custom, excise and value added) for import of agricultural equipment and agro-processing equipment
   Tax holidays for investors putting processing plants in staple crop processing zones
   Increase tariff on any commodity that Nigeria can produce (rice, starch, sugar, wheat etc.) to promote domestic production and  local content
   Current policy on import levy of 5% for brown rice and 30% for polished milled rice, and 5% on raw sugar and 10% on starches should be increased and revenue used to support domestic production
   Supportive incentives for investors for blending plants for ethanol

Domestic Content for Food (Enabling Legislations)

   10% Cassava Flour substitution for bread wheat flour
   Blending 10% ethanol with petrol.

Industrial Policies Move gradually away from fertilizer consumption subsidies to support for local fertilizer manufacturing leveraging the gas industrialization policy (e.g., Nagajuna 1.4 mil MT plant) Financial Service Policies

   Incentives for access of farmers to weather index insurance
   Remove the current monopoly on agricultural insurance by the National Agricultural Insurance Company and liberalize to allow private sector insurance companies

Agricultural Policies

   Liberalize foundation seed policy to allow private sector to commercialize seeds
   Eliminate government distribution of fertilizers and replace with private sector distribution
   Move away from a flat fertilizer price subsidy to targeted support to small holder farmers
   Incentives to engage young commercial farmers for farming as a business
       Development of Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Centers
       Farm skill acquisition centers
       Access to land and finance
   Create institutions to support the agricultural transformation agenda
       Marketing Corporations, to replace marketing boards
       Transform the Agricultural Research Council (ARCN) to a National Agricultural Transformation Agency like EMPRAPA that transformed Brazilian agriculture
   Guaranteed minimum price for food crops to stabilize prices
   Revise the Land Use Act to enable easier access to land for investors
   Rapid expansion in irrigation facilities and revamping of existing ones

Dynamics

The usage of inorganic fertilizers was promoted by Nigerian government in the 1970s.[2]

In 1990, 82 million hectares out of Nigeria's total land area of about 91 million hectares were found to be arable. 42 percent of the cultivable area was farmed. Much of this land was farmed under the bush fallow system, whereby land is left idle for a period of time to allow natural regeneration of soil fertility. 18 million hectares were classified as permanent pasture, but had the potential to support crops. Most of the 20 million hectares covered by forests and woodlands are believed to have agricultural potential.[3]

Agricultural holdings are small and scattered, and farming is carried out with simple tools. Large-scale agriculture is not common. Agriculture contributed 32% to GDP in 2001.[4]

Agricultural products

A map of Nigeria's main agricultural products.

Major crops include beans, sesame, cashew nuts, cassava, cocoa beans, groundnuts, gum arabic, kolanut, maize (corn), melon, millet, palm kernels, palm oil, plantains, rice, rubber, sorghum, soybeans and yams.

The country's agricultural products fall into two main groups: food crops produced for home consumption, and exports. Prior to the Nigerian civil war, the country was self-sufficient in food, but increased steeply after 1973. Bread made from American wheat replaced domestic crops as the cheapest staple food.[4]

Food crops

The most important food crops are yams and manioc (cassava) in the south and sorghum and millet in the north.[4]

Cocoa

Cocoa is the leading non-oil foreign exchange earner but the dominance of smallholders and lack of farm labor due to urbanization hold back production. In 1999, Nigeria produced 145,000 tons of cocoa beans, but has the potential for over 300,000 per year.[4]

Rubber

Rubber is the second-largest non-oil foreign exchange earner.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Olomola Ade S. (2007) “Strategies for Managing the Opportunities and Challenges of the Current Agricultural Commodity Booms in SSA” in Seminar Papers on Managing Commodity Booms in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Publication of the AERC Senior Policy Seminar IX. African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Nairobi, Kenya
  2. ↑ Pasquini, MW; Alexander, MJ (2005). "Soil fertility management strategies on the Jos Plateau: the need for integrating ‘empirical’ and ‘scientific’ knowledge in agricultural development". Geographical Journal 171 (2): 112–124. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00154.x.
  3. ↑ Countries studies, Nigeria
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Nigeria agriculture

External links