Despite Nigeria’s highly diversified agro-ecological condition with a production possibility of a wide range of agricultural products, the agric sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and export revenue earnings remains low, the Managing Director, Bank of Agriculture, Mr. Mohammed San Turaki, has said.
San Turaki expressed regrets that despite the nation’s resource endowment, the agricultural sector has been growing at a very low rate with the smallholder farmers constrained by many problems including poor access to modern inputs and credit, poor infrastructure, inadequate access to markets, land and environmental degradation, and inadequate research and extension services.
He spoke at a one-day conference with the theme: “National Dialogue on Agricultural Value Chain: Enhancing Agricultural Export Through Adequate Financing, organised by the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines & Agriculture (NACCIMA).
He said the economy can only grow if agriculture is treated as a business where farmers produce what the market needs and can process for export.
He said: “Unfortunately, no significant success has been achieved due to the several persistent constraints inhibiting the performance of the sector. From the perspective of sustainable agricultural growth and development in Nigeria, the most fundamental constraint is the peasant nature of the production system, with its low productivity, poor access to funding which ultimately leads to poor response to technology adoption strategies, and poor returns on investment.”
The Bank of Agriculture boss stressed that agricultural commercialisation and investment are the key strategies for promoting accelerated modernisation, sustainable growth and development and, hence, poverty reduction in the sector. He said to attract investment into the agric sector, it is imperative that those constraints inhibiting the performance of the sector are first identified with a view to unlocking them and creating a conducive investment climate.
He argued that it is only when Nigeria focuses on the whole agricultural value chain that the country can start exporting. He insisted that government needs to regulate the environment, land tenure system, research and development, marketing and consumers needs. The BoA boss regretted that banks will rather pay penalty than fund agriculture because of its high risk, noting that except this is addressed its contribution to the GDP will remain abysmal.
He further stated that economic growth achieved through agriculture is three times more effective than other sectors of the economy.
Director General, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Dr. Gloria Elemo frowned at the weak infrastructure and budgetary provision to agric, insisting that such cannot encourage competitiveness of the sector. She also criticised the exportation of primary products at a cheap rate and importing it at a very high cost due to a little value added.
Earlier, in his welcome address, President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar said agricultural value chain is an important option for agricultural development, as higher financial returns can be realised through value enhancing inputs.
Abubakar further said the value chain concept creates opportunities for farmers, agribusiness and entrepreneurs along the agricultural value chain to transform commodities into higher value products- a process that can play an important role in poverty reduction; creation of employment, provision of raw materials for industrial growth and generate income.
