Miller Magazine Issue: 116 August 2019

NIGERIA 88 MILLER / AUGUST 2019 A key regional player in West Africa, with a popula- tion of approximately 203 million, Nigeria accounts for about 47% of West Africa’s population. The country has the largest population of any African nation and it has one of the largest populations of youth in the world. With an abundance of resources, it is Africa’s biggest oil exporter, and also has the largest natural gas reserves on the continent. Nigeria accounts for nearly 20% of continental GDP and about 75% of the West Africa economy. While Nigeria has made some progress in so- cio-economic terms in recent years, it continues to face massive developmental challenges, which in- clude the need to reduce the dependency on oil and diversify the economy, address insufficient infrastruc- ture, and build strong and effective institutions, as well as governance issues and public financial man- agement systems. Agriculture in Nigeria is so important to the econo- my and people’s daily lives. The farming sector em- ploys about 70 percent of the entire country’s labor force. Nigeria’s small farms produce 80 percent of the total food. This is the leading African country in farm- ing because it has the highest levels of productivity and profitability in this particular sector. However, ag- riculture may remain affected by conflicts and climate and weather events; and the non-oil-non-agriculture will likely continue to struggle in the face of sluggish demand and constrained private sector credit growth. The population, projected to grow to 392 million by 2050, will make Nigeria the world’s fourth most pop- ulous country. This population is increasingly reliant on domestic and imported processed food products. Bread, semolina, and durum pasta and other wheat flour-based products are major stables in Nigeria’s ur- ban areas. Nigeria continues to employ trade-restrictive meas- ures, including high tariffs, foreign exchange controls, levies and import bans to protect its domestic agricul- tural production (including grains), despite its mem- bership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). In Nigeria, there are over 30 million hectares of farmland under cultivation season to season, falling substantially short of the estimated 78.5 million hec- tares of land that is required for farming to feed Nige- ria’s growing population. The people of Nigeria depend on produce from the local farms for their daily meals as more than 80 percent of Nigerians buy their farm produce from the market. This country is at a huge advantage in terms of agriculture profitability because of the huge de- mand for farm produce. Nigeria has the benefit of having large stretches of fertile land available to cultivate. It has one of the largest expanses of land in Africa with more than 900 thousand square kilometers and 70 percent of it is able to be cultivated to produce sustenance for the population of Nigeria. This land provides Nigeria with practically an unlimited source of farming food, pro- viding agricultural produces and jobs for the people. The Nigerian economy took a hit from declining oil revenues in 2015, forcing the government to seek economic diversification. It has set to pursue agri- cultural development as one of its key goals to help address the country’s dependence on food imports totaling nearly 11 billion dollars annually. It has also engaged in a campaign to redirect focus from oil to agriculture, manufacturing and solid minerals devel- opment. In this regard, the government has rolled out five agricultural development initiatives. A MAJOR SETBACK TO FOOD AVAILABILITY There is significant demand for new and used ag- Photo courtesy of Bühler. Photographer, Thomas Eugster