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 Agriculture
NIGERIA:
PLOUGHING A NEW PATH IN AGRIC
Before oil, Nigeria had oil. With oil were the crops groundnut
(peanut), cocoa and rubber. These crops were cultivated in
large quantities and exported to Europe and America in the
pre-1960s and early ‘60s.
With military incursions into Nigerian government and the
dependence of petroleum products as the foremost foreign exchange
earner, attention to the agricultural sector dwindled. Nigeria’s
groundnut pyramids disappeared, the oil palm plantations vanished
and farming went back to a subsistent level. With a burgeoning
population, it became increasingly difficult to feed the teeming
masses and the country resorted to importing food to supplement
the one grown at home.
With the military gone and a new democratic structure in
place, the country is poised to regain her position in agriculture.
The administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo has watered
the ground in empowering Nigerian farmers and agro-allied
investors to harness the country’s rich resources in
producing food and raw materials for industries and export.
Funding for agro allied investments have been made easier
to get, with extension services provided to farmers at highly
subsidized rates to ensure heavy yields at harvest time. Agric
banks make loans available to farmers while fertilizers, pesticides,
herbicides and planting technologies are made available at
subsidized rates by the government.
Working in hand with the farmers is the Nigerian Export Promotion
Council which helps to find buyers for the food and cash crops
from Nigeria.
Land is being provided at reasonable terms for use for large
scale farming. Government has encouraged foreign agric investors
with remarkable results. For instance farmers from Southern
African countries have found home in Nigeria where they have
started operations to produce.
The agricultural initiative of the Obasanjo Administration
has seen to the restriction of the importation of some types
of food and cash crops to encourage local farmers to compete.
The highly fertile Nigerian soil makes
it easy to cultivate the following:
Cassava, Yams, Melon, Maize, Millet, Sorghum, Cowpeas, Bananas
(plantains included) Palm oil, Groundnuts.
Nigeria’s cash crops include:
Tobacco, Groundnuts, Cocoa beans, Rubber, Gum Arabic, Kola
nuts, Beniseed, Cotton, Soyabean, Palm kernel, Cashew nuts
Nigerian manufacturers find it convenient to grow their raw
materials here. Hence there are cotton farms, orange plantations,
tea plantations (on Mambilla Plateau) and coconut groves all
sources of raw materials for Nigerian industries.
Opportunities also abound in the cultivation of various species
of fish. Fish farming is on the rise in Nigeria with several
hundred thousands of tons of fish harvested annually in the
country.
The grasslands of the Northern part of the country are ideal
for ranching and the rearing of cattle and other livestock.
For more information contact:
Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Water Resources
FCDA Sec. Complex, Area 11, Garki, Abuja, PMB 135 Garki, Abuja.
Tel: (09) 3142622, 3146509, 3142914, 3143987
Fax: (09) 3140347, 3140945, 3144392
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