February 27, (THEWILL) – There is something worrying about Nigeria’s agricultural sector: There is too much talk, but little action. The result is that we keep singing the chorus of agriculture as a low-hanging fruit, whereas little results are achieved. Overtime, the trite about Nigeria being an agriculture exporting country before the oil boom of the early 1970s and raking in huge export proceeds through the abundance of palm produce, cocoa and groundnuts, has become a narrative that fits the place of old fairy tales.
On a daily basis, fingers point to agriculture as the low-hanging fruit that ‘diversification’ could yield within our backyards. On television and radio programmes, seminars, symposia and public lectures, it is agriculture, agriculture, agriculture … ‘Let us embrace agriculture …’, ‘Let us mechanise and modernise agriculture ….’ But, in reality, the sector is not receiving the priority it deserves. We still depend on the poor rural farmers who eke out a living from tilling their farms to feed our mammoth population. Even at that, the life of the rural farmer who feeds the nation is not any better. There are no access roads, no electricity, no pipe borne water, no good healthcare, and the children do not enjoy quality education.
Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), year after year, are advised to go into Agriculture and to aim to be job creators not job seekers. This admonition has become old fashioned, yielding nothing beyond the officials completing their logbooks of activity schedules. Yet, agriculture remains the low-hanging fruit that has become increasingly elusive, existing more in official and academic circles where long discussion are held as to what ought to be done and by who. The consequence is shortage and high price of food.
Data Speaks
In the last few years, Nigeria’s inflation rate has been largely driven by rise in food prices.
For instance, inflation rate increased by 16.47 percent (year-on-year) in January 2021, against surging food prices. The trend continued about mid-year. While the inflation rate dropped from 18.12 per cent in April to 17.93 per cent in May, representing a decrease of 0.19 per cent, composite food index rose to 22.28 per cent in May 2021, compared with 22.72 percent in April 2021. This means that food remained expensive and unaffordable by the majority of Nigeria’s population. This contributed to the poverty rate of between 45 and 50 per cent, according to several reports.
Similarly, the consumer price index, which increased to 15.63 percent in December 2021 was the first increase after recording consecutive drops since April 2021 – amid a surge in food prices.
The devastating effects of rising food prices was captured in the NBS report: for 2021 year-end “In December 2021, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi (22.82 percent), Enugu (20.65 percent) and Lagos (20.27 percent), while Edo (13.24 percent), Kaduna (13.53 percent) and Sokoto (14.82 percent) recorded the slowest rise.”
“On month-on-month basis, December 2021 food inflation was highest in Cross River (4.09 percent), Akwa Ibom (3.88 percent) and Rivers (3.79 percent), while Nasarawa (0.21 percent), Jigawa (0.39 percent) recorded the slowest rise in inflation on month-on-month with Kaduna recording price deflation or negative inflation (general decrease in the price level of food or a negative food inflation rate).”
What these suggest is that inflation rate in Nigeria is driven by surge in food prices ravaging the people and communities across the states, even when inflation rate assumes a downward trend. This has direct impact on the people’s standard of living which has not shown any improvement over the years.
World Bank’s Voice
In September 2019, the World Bank raised the alarm that Nigeria’s food crisis had assumed a frightening dimension, blaming the development largely on poor policies of successive administrations in the country. It regretted that the most populous black nation had fallen from its enviable position of producer and exporter of produce in the early 1960s and 1970s to the world’s largest importer of food. The global lender stated that the nation was “tragically living on borrowed times and being unable to feed her own citizens who are now very hungry, angry and war-threatened.”
In his keynote presentation under the summit’s theme, ‘Agriculture: Your One Trillion Dollar Economy,’ the Senior Agricultural Economist for the World Bank, Dr Adetunji Oredipe, said Nigeria was reaping the price of lack of sustenance of investment in agriculture, adding that to reverse the ugly trend, the country must henceforth invest at least seven per cent of its national agriculture budget to GDP in the sector.
The declaration was made at the second Sterling Bank International Agricultural Summit in Abuja attended by delegates from all continents of the world, including 40 others representing some African nations. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the occasion assured Nigerians that the Muhammadu Buhari-led government was on course to reinvent the country through agriculture and make the sector the mainstay of the nation’s economy.
Again, the World Bank in November 2021 raised alarm over the threat of insecurity and COVID-19 pandemic on Nigerian households’ food security.In a report titled, ‘COVID-19 in Nigeria: Frontline Data and Pathways for Policy’, released in Washington, the bank said that Nigeria “already faced complex development challenges” and the pandemic continued to “affect health outcomes, human capital accumulation, household poverty and coping strategies, and labour-market dynamics.”
It went on, “With the COVID-19 crisis ushering in associated shocks – especially to food prices – and social protection remaining rare, households’ food security and their welfare at large is under serious threat.”
Alarmingly overwhelmed
A major threat to agriculture in Nigeria today is insecurity, especially in the North, which is the nation’s food basket. From the North-Central to North-West and North-East, the state of insecurity worsens daily. A recent report showed that, on the average, 14 Nigerians were killed every day in 2021. A total of 1,024 reported violent attacks occurred in the country in 2021 and killings were reported in all the attacks. A total of 5,067 Nigerians were reported to have been killed in 2021 alone – five years since the trend took a dramatic turn in 2016.
As of 2019, it was reported that over 50,000 farms were abandoned by farmers in Nigeria due to insecurity of killing and kidnapping. In the states of Niger, Borno, Zamfara, Katsina and others, bandits have taken over the farmlands preventing farmers from planting or harvesting. The bandits also impose taxes on the farmers to allow them to harvest their crops.
Those who engage in commodity export have sad stories to tell as well. The chaotic situation of our ports, especially in Lagos, remains a threat to the non-oil revenue drive through agriculture and agro-allied businesses. Presently, there are myriads of issues affecting import and export trade negatively in Nigerian ports.
Similarly, media reports in September 2021 disclosed that foreign cargo airlines and local exporters are fast abandoning the multi-billion dollar worth Nigeria agro-export, over stifling official bottlenecks at airports. “Besides the hurdles of importing into the country, more complicated roadblocks have been mounted by government agencies in the form of extortions, harassment and multiple charges on export goods, causing international cargo airlines to prefer flying out of Nigeria empty.”
“Among the 16 sundry charges tracked for goods coming in or departing the country via airports, only five are officially recognized.”
Cargo agencies explain that the implication includes at least $250 billion loss on agro-export produce to the country.
Another challenge is credit. Though the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced various intervention schemes to boost Agriculture and agro-allied business, this is just like a teaspoon of salt in the ocean. It does not go far to enable the farmers and the country to reap the rewards.
The way out
Governments at all levels must take decisive action against insecurity in the country. Enhanced access to credit should also be broadened.
As the World Bank official said, “These anticipated rewards and positive changes will only happen if Africa’s farmers and agribusinesses undoubtedly can receive expanded access to more capital outlays, uninterrupted electricity, modern technology and well-irrigated areas to cultivate high-value nutritious foods.”
“For Nigeria, it is a great window of opportunities to harness the countless openings that exist in the agricultural value chain towards building a sustainable economy that creates hope for the realisation of our much-desired national development and sustainable food security.”
“The rise in prices witnessed between June 2020 and June 2021 alone could push another six million Nigerians into poverty, with urban areas being disproportionately affected. This underscores the need for short-term policies to support welfare.
“The simple simulations suggest that the share of Nigerians living below the national poverty line could have increased from 40.1 percent to 42.8 percent due to the food price inflation witnessed between June 2020 and June 2021.
“This means about 5.6 million additional Nigerians would be living in poverty. While food price inflation would decrease purchasing power and raise poverty across Nigeria, it appears that urban areas could be disproportionately affected,” the World Bank said.
Practical steps must be taken to put Agriculture on the right path and push it on the fast lane of economic development. Appropriate incentives should be given to those who chose to engage in food production, processing or distribution.
According to the NBS, Nigerian farmers earned a total of N165.26 billion in export proceeds in the second half of 2021. The items include raw, processed and semi-processed commodities available in huge quantities in various parts of the country. With appropriate and enabling environment Agriculture will play a huge role in Nigeria’s economic development. To achieve that, talks must be matched with actions.
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