The Impact of Agriculture on the Nigerian Economy
This study has found out that Nigeria ranks 25th in the world’s survey in terms of agricultural productivity. Nigeria has suffered for many years of agricultural and fisheries mismanagement, as well as poor and inconsistent political management. Aside from that, the government has not been able to lead the people properly due to many problems in basic infrastructure, lack of employment for the population so as the government has been violating the human rights of the people at large. Of employment. The country is no longer a major exporter of cocoa, groundnuts (peanuts), rubber, and palm oil. For the past 25 years, it was able to produce 300,000 tons of agricultural crops annually. But nowadays, it only produces at around 180,000 tons a year. Additionally, a more dramatic decline in groundnut and palm oil production has taken place. And, even the poultry production in Africa, corporate went down to 18 million birds from 40 million birds annually. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Nigeria)
As a result, event he import business in the country has been greatly affected, and it has very limited agricultural and food processing productivity. The worst thing is the country does not have any fall back since the country’s land tenure system does not have a long-term technological investment, as well as modern production strategies that can help to improve its rural economic condition. It has very low agricultural production in some agricultural products such as cassava or tapioca, corn, cocoa, millet, palm oil, peanuts, rice, rubber, sortghum and yams. In 2003, even the livestock production like eggs, milk, beef and veal, poultry, and pork, were respectively declined in production. In the same year, are yams and manioc (cassava) in the south and sorghum (Guinea corn) and millet in the north are the most valuable crops in Nigeria. During 1999, the production of yams was 25.1 million tons (67% of world production); while manioc production went to 33.1 million tons (highest in the world and 20% of global production); on the other hand the cocoyams (taro) production got 3.3 million tons; and sweet potatoes, 1,560,000 tons productivity. The 1999 production estimated major crops as: sorghum was 8,443; millet was 5,457; corn was 5,777; rice got 3,399; peanuts went to 2,783; palm oil produced 842; sugar cane harvested 675; palm kernel also got 565; soybeans went to 405; and cotton lint, had 57. There are varied fruits and vegetables that have been growing in Nigeria, if only given proper agricultural system will help the country’s economy to put into proper place. Furthermore, the wood production slightly slowed down to 70 million cubic meters while sawn wood production was only around 2 million cubic meters. To sum it up, the agricultural sector has really suffered from enormous losses in production. Apparently, this sector fails in Nigeria because it does not able to keep pace with Nigeria’s rapid population growth. And so, the country has to attend first to the food sustainability of the local market before exporting their agricultural goods.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Nigeria)
Subsequently, the agricultural products of Nigeria are categorized into two main groups; the food crops which produced for home consumption and the export products. Before the civil war began, the country had already experienced the insufficiency in food production for the whole population. However, the food scarcity was only sustained by the increase of food importation from other countries. For instance, the bread which mainly comes from US, it replaced Nigerian domestic crops as the cheapest staple food for the urban population. On the other side, although cocoa has been the leading non-oil foreign exchange earner in the country, it became slow in production because of the abolition of the Nigerian Cocoa Board. The country is obviously has the great potential to raise large production in cocoa, it has supposedly the ability to produce more than 300,000 tons of cocoa beans every year. Nevertheless, because of the mismanagement of cocoa industry in the country, it only produced 145,000 tons of cocoa beans in 1999. Next to cocoa, is the rubber as the second largest non-oil foreign exchange earner in the country, but the production rate went down to 90,000 tons form 155,000 in 1999 caused by the low yield, aging trees and scarcity of proper equipment that will help rapid production. Despite this deteriorating condition of agricultural sector in Nigeria, agriculture is undoubtedly, the main source of employment which employs about0 percent of the labor force in the country.
(http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Nigeria-AGRICULTURE.html)
In the final note, after all the Nigerian best efforts in agricultural growth and development for more than three decades, still the government has failed to improve the country’s economy due to political instability, lack of self-reliance and public participation in the government’s policies as well as the failure to sustain crops production, so as to sustain the country’s peace and security.
(http://www.springerlink.com/content/l177304685172666/)
References:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Nigeria)
(http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Nigeria-AGRICULTURE.html)
(http://www.springerlink.com/content/l177304685172666/)
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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