Agriculture in Nigeria is a branch of the economy in Nigeria, providing employment for about 30% of the population as of 2010. The sector is being transformed by commercialization at the small, medium and large-scale enterprise levels.
Dynamics
Food export accounted for more than 70 percent of the GNP of Nigeria at independence, twenty five years later, it was almost a complete reversal with food items accounting for over 50 percent of imports. Food output however declined after independence although many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa were fertile and potentially productive, per capita food out declined, grain imports then increased more than seven times. The usage of inorganic fertilizers was therefore promoted by the Nigerian government in the 1970s. 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 bushfallow 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. 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.
Agricultural products
Major crops include beans, rice, sesame, cashew nuts, cassava, cocoa beans, groundnuts, gum arabic, kolanut, maize, melon, millet, palm kernels, palm oil, plantains, rice, rubber, sorghum, soybeans, bananas and yams. In the past, Nigeria was famous for the export of groundnut and palm kernel oil. But over the years the rate of export of this produce has reduced. A few years back local Nigerian companies has commenced exporting groundnuts, cashew nuts, sesame seeds, moringa seeds, Ginger, cocoa etc. 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. Between 1980 and 2016, Yam production increased from more than 5 million tonnes to 44 million tonnes.
Cocoa is the leading non-oil foreign exchange earner but the dominance of smallholders and lack of farm labour due to urbanization hold back production. In 1969, Nigeria produced 145,000 tons of cocoa beans, but has the potential for over 300,000 per year. For more productivity, Nigerian Government should give more incentives to cocoa farmers Rubber is the second-largest non-oil foreign exchange earner.
Oil palm
The palms industry constitutes a significant sector of the Nigerian economy, providing food and raw materials for the Food, Cosmetics, Pharmaceuticals, Plastics and the Bio-energy industries. In Nigeria the institute that has valuable information about oil palm is the . The formal mandate of the institute is to conduct research into the production and products of oil palm and other palms of economic importance and transfer its research findings to farmers.
The government office responsible for Agriculture development and transformation 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, Fisheries, Livestock, Land Resources, Fertilizer, Food Reserve & Storage and Rural Development.
Service Departments: Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, PPAS and Co-operatives.
In 2011, the administration of President Jonathan launched an Agricultural Transformation Agenda which was managed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The intended outcome of the agenda is to promote agriculture as a business, integrate the agricultural value chain and make agriculture a key driver of Nigeria's economic growth. To achieve this agenda the government put in place some new measures:
Duty Waivers and other industry related incentives e.g., based on use of local raw materials, export orientation
Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria began the Anchors-Borrow program to encourage the cultivation of certain crops, especially rice. The FG of Nigeria has also closed it land borders in other to curtail rice imports and encourage local production
