Agriculture
From The Report: Nigeria 2013
View in Online Reader

The largest contributor to Nigeria’s GDP, the agriculture sector accounted for a 40.1% share as of mid-2013, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. It is also the main source of employment in the country, responsible for more than 60% of jobs, as per figures from the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Increases in the amount of cultivated land have led to a rise in production, but yields remain low and the sector is performing below its potential. Formerly responsible for 18% of world cocoa production, Nigeria’s market share is now less than half of that. The country remains a world leader is cassava, but has also lost significant ground in crops such as groundnuts and palm oil. The Agricultural Transformation Action Plan, a state-backed market-oriented reform effort, is in the early stages of implementation and is expected to pave the way for the sector’s development going forward.

This chapter contains interviews with Akinwumi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; and Sunny Verghese, Group Managing Director and CEO, Olam International.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Roadmap for development: After a period of relative decline, the sector is once again a top priority
OBG
plus

The largest contributor to Nigeria’s GDP, the agriculture sector accounted for a 40.1% share as of mid-2013, according to the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It is also the main source of employment in the country, responsible for more than 60% of jobs, as per figures from the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Increases in the amount of cultivated land have led to a rise in production in recent years, although yields remain low and the sector is performing far below…

Analysis

Innovative solutions: A new e-wallet system seeks to reach farmers in more remote areas
OBG
plus

The removal of fuel subsidies in Nigeria made headlines in early 2012, but another halt to an expensive, inefficient state intervention took place in the agricultural sector. Fertiliser subsidies were the target of this reform and were replaced with the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES). A first in Africa, the system helps ensure that farmers can access subsidies directly, using mobile phones as a platform to conduct basic transactions and make payments. As in the fuel markets, fertiliser…

Interview

OBG talks to Akinwumi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
OBG
plus

Interview:Akinwumi Adesina How can food price inflation and supply shortages be avoided in the short and medium terms? AKINWUMI ADESINA: Import duties on select food items are part of Nigeria’s economic diversification strategy, given the country’s comparative advantages in agriculture. Currently, Nigeria is the largest rice importer in the world, spending N350bn ($2.2bn) on rice imports annually, even though we can produce rice all over the country. We are improving efficiency by planting…

Interview

OBG talks to Sunny Verghese, Group Managing Director and CEO, Olam International
OBG
plus

Interview:Sunny Verghese What are the biggest challenges to vertical integration in Africa’s agricultural sector? SUNNY VERGHESE: Farmers face several challenges in the upstream part of the value chain, including lack of credit and knowledge, logistics constraints and adequate access to markets. The lack of credit to smallholders has resulted in long periods of underinvestment in farms. However, given that private entities (notably, local commercial banks) are starting to provide microfinance,…

Interview

OBG talks to Sunny Verghese, Group Managing Director and CEO, Olam International
OBG
plus

Interview:Sunny Verghese What are the biggest challenges to vertical integration in Africa’s agricultural sector? SUNNY VERGHESE: Farmers face several challenges in the upstream part of the value chain, including lack of credit and knowledge, logistics constraints and adequate access to markets. The lack of credit to smallholders has resulted in long periods of underinvestment in farms. However, given that private entities (notably, local commercial banks) are starting to provide microfinance,…

Analysis

Transformation plan: Efforts to push the industry forward and improve farmers’ access to resources face challenges
OBG
plus

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture (FMARD) released a mid-term report evaluating its Agricultural Transformation Action Plan (ATAP) in May 2013. It aimed for a paradigm shift, in which the logic of the private sector would be applied to a traditionally public sector, and claimed that the result would be more jobs, more food and a better future for all. With the triumphs so far, there have also been some setbacks. ATAP PROMISES: Some of ATAP’s successes are visible: there are more business-oriented…