A recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics that Nigeria’s agricultural imports far exceeded agricultural exports by 120% in first quarter of 2022 is a worrisome development. While agricultural imports stood at N443.36 billion, the agro exports stood at N201.59 billion. The situation shows policies on agriculture are yet not working as expected. According to available statistics, wheat and palm oil dominate Nigeria’s agro imports. Within the period under review, wheat import from the United States was put at N71.56billion, while that from Argentina was N59.04billion. This was followed by palm oil import from Malaysia and China valued at N13.52 billion.
Generally, it is estimated that about two billion Dollars is spent annually on importing wheat. With the escalation of the Russia/Ukraine war, the cost of wheat importation may rise even higher by year’s end.
This persistent spending on agricultural produce importation is in spite of several policies that different Federal Governments in Nigeria had initiated to boost food production and security in the country. Including the present government’s emphasis on diversification through agriculture and its past attempts to ban the importation of rice, other policies that have been tried by other governments are the National Accelerated Food Production Programme, Operation Feed the Nation, Green Revolution Programme and the Anchor Borrowers Programme, an intervention policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria, among other programmes, aimed at increasing food production and exports. On the Anchor Borrowers Programme, CBN says it has disbursed almost N600billion as loans to farmers, especially those involved in commercial rice farming.
It is regrettable that Nigeria’s agricultural sector, which used to be the mainstay of the economy and major revenue earner for the country, is currently struggling to the extent that the country is relying so much on agro imports. Figures from the CBN show that between 2015 and 2019, food imports gulped $14 billion.
The amount has reportedly doubled in the last two years due to farmer/herder conflicts and scarcity of foreign exchange.
Therefore, there is urgent need for aggressive diversification in the agric sector as well as other non-oil sectors of the economy. The focus should be on massive production of rice, groundnut, cashew, wheat, coconut, pawpaw, plantain, yam, cassava, banana and others, with the aim of boosting domestic sufficiency in food production and for agro exports.
Any country that is unable to feed its citizens cannot be said to be truly independent. State governments should empower individuals and groups with keen interest in commercial farming with soft loans. They can collaborate with the Bank of Agriculture and the Bank of Industry to get such loans at low interest rates.
Besides, investment in agro industries will provide the much-needed employment opportunities. Altogether, boosting agro exports and reducing imports will enhance our forex earnings. However, government must tackle the insecurity that has affected investment in the agricultural sector. Moving forward, we need policies that will reposition the agricultural sector so that Nigeria’s agro exports can compete favourably in the international market.
Written by PROFESSOR ANTHONY EZE
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