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Nigeria Spends $11B On Food Import Despite Immense Agricultural Potential

Nigeria Spends $11B On Food Import Despite Immense Agricultural Potential

Nigeria spends $11 billion on food import, denying the nation the much-needed foreign exchange as the economy faces uncertain times due to a global fall in oil prices — its main export commodity.

This is the third biggest annual import after industrial supplies and capital goods.

The nation currently earns about $2 billion annually from non-oil exports, according to Vanguard. It presents a huge trade imbalance between imports and exports.

Nigeria has already put in plans to boost earnings from non-oil products to $30 billion in the next five years. Agriculture is at the core of the plans due to the rich unexploited potential.

According to The Sun, the nation will save about $22 billion by 2018, if the plans are successfully implemented.

Some of the efforts to boost agriculture include adopting international best practices in quality and standards, logistics, cultivation of high yielding species. Production, processing, good preservation methods and marketing.

Exports in Palm Oil, Cocoa, Cashew, Sugar and Rice are key crops targeted by Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) since January 2016.

Nigeria is already recording huge successes in the cultivation of wheat, rice, beans, soya beans and other staple foods. About one million tons of rice are expected to be harvested in Kebbi State, this year.

According to reports by This Day, the agricultural sector is an untapped goldmine that Africa’s most populous nation can turn to in efforts to boost her foreign exchange and reduce over-reliance on oil.

About 80 percent of the country’s land is arable and has in the past produced beans, cashew nuts, cocoa beans, rice, palm oil and cassava among others.

Agricultural products have a ready and rich market due to the high population (about 170 million people). Unfortunately, only 40 percent of the over 84 million hectares is under cultivation.

Nigeria has a diverse climate, with tropical zones of the coast and arid parts in the North offering a suitable environment for farming of diverse crops. It also has an abundant supply of water

The country’s agricultural production plummeted over the decades due to under-funding and lack of proper attention from the federal government that earns 80 percent of its revenue from oil export.

This has led to small-scale farming being the bulk of agricultural production.

Africa’s biggest economy was self-sufficient in food production for both home consumption and exports, before the civil war of 1967-1970.