On May 29, 2024, the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration clocked one year in office. This occasion makes it an important opportunity to examine how the presidency has fared in the area of agriculture and the economy in general. Taking a cue from the appraisal of the leading Nigeria’s policy advocacy group; Lagos Chamber of Commerce of Industry (LCCI), a closer look at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the leading economic performance indicator, makes it possible to make a favourable comparison between the GDP recorded in the first quarter of 2024 (2.98%) and 2.31% in the corresponding period of 2023.
LCCI, in a statement signed by its Director-General, Dr. Chinyere Almona observed that, “we understand that generally, the beginning of any year presents with slow growth dynamics, which are expected to pick up in subsequent quarters”. In specific terms, the chamber disclosed that the “agriculture sector was impacted mainly by insecurity, fuel subsidy removal, and consistent exchange rate deprecation, which increased the cost of fertilizer and other input costs. Some parts of the country recorded the worst flooding in history in the last quarter of 2023, significantly affecting crops such as rice, maize, and soybeans. The economic conditions have also been difficult for livestock producers and animals suffering from the high feed cost, herder-farmer crisis”.
Digging deeper, it observed that a result of the challenging conditions, the Federal Government declared a state of emergency on food production to stabilise prices. It implemented several intervention policies, including distributing N100 billion fertilizers to boost food production. However, affordable food is still a far cry. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), food inflation had consistently increased over the last twelve years, reaching 40.53% in April 2024 compared to 24.82% in May 2023. In terms of GDP, agriculture sector growth has mainly been sub-optimal. In the first quarter of 2024, the sector grew by 0.18% when compared to 2.10% and 1.30% in Q4 and Q3 of 2023, respectively, as this implies a downward trend in the sector’s output.
FarmingFarmersFarms agrees with the chamber that to address low agricultural output, the government should address the country’s high level of insecurity and the exchange rate crisis. Additionally, the government must incentivise agricultural processing and invest in vital infrastructure such as power and transportation. Not only that, there is the need to diversify the economy by investing in non-oil sectors (such as agriculture) to reduce dependency on oil revenues and build economic resilience; focus on job creation by implementing targeted programmes to reduce youth unemployment by supporting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with expectations that the Tinubu administration would build on its achievements and foster a more robust and inclusive economic growth trajectory for the nation.
