Nigeria’s 64th independence amid shackles of food insecurity

Onome Amuge

The 1960s marked a period of agricultural prosperity in Nigeria, with the sector boasting iconic crops that symbolised the country’s agricultural richness and sustainability. The groundnut pyramids, oil palm, rubber, and cocoa were among the most prominent of these crops, contributing to a sector that was not only profitable but also considered a national treasure for its sustainability and resilience.

From a historical perspective,the agricultural sector was a cornerstone of Nigeria’s economic and educational progress during the early post-independence era. In the Western Region, the prosperity of cocoa exports and production enabled the funding of significant projects, such as Obafemi Awolowo University and free education. In the North, agricultural strength facilitated the establishment of Ahmadu Bello University, and in the East, it played a key role in establishing the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), amongst other significant projects across the country.

With the discovery of oil and the subsequent oil boom in the 1970s, Nigeria became heavily reliant on oil revenue, leading to a shift in focus away from agriculture. The agricultural sector was dealt a severe blow, as government attention and investment prioritised the lucrative oil industry, and the sector began a prolonged decline.

Despite the agricultural sector’s reported growth from three percent in the 1990s to seven percent in the mid-2000s, performance indicators crucial to food security and sufficiency, such as food production and self-sufficiency, continued to decline.

64 years after independence, the Nigerian economy’s dependence on oil has had lasting consequences on the agricultural sector. The shift in focus away from agriculture has hindered the sector’s growth and development, leading to a heavy reliance on food imports that cost the country over $22 billion annually. The government’s lackluster efforts in promoting local production capacity have further exacerbated the situation, with food insecurity remaining a persistent issue despite the country’s agricultural potential.

In a recent effort to address food inflation hike, the federal government approved a 150-day duty-free window for the importation of maize, brown rice, and wheat. This comes as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that in Q1 2024, Nigeria spent $689.88 million on food imports, representing 17 percent of total foreign exchange expenditure on imports and a 40 percent increase from the previous quarter.

The NBS data reflects a concerning picture of food inflation trends in the first half of 2024, with the inflation rate for imported food spiraling from 26.29 percent in January to 36.38 percent by June.

According to industry reports, Nigeria’s agricultural sector has been besieged by a myriad of challenges, as evident by the string of unsuccessful policies implemented over the years to address these issues. Despite national agricultural initiatives including National Accelerated Food Production Programme (1972), Operation Feed the Nation (1976), Green Revolution (1980), National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (1999), National Special Programme on Food Security (2002), National Food Sector Plan (2007),Green Alternative Policy (2011), ,Agricultural Transformation Agenda (2012), Anchor Borrowers Programme (2015), Agricultural Promotion Policy (2016) among others, the sector’s output has remained unsustained.

The series of initiatives intended to revive the agricultural sector were ultimately unsuccessful, as previous economic managers prioritised food importation over exportation. This has led to a continued dependence on imported foodstuffs, which has proven to be a massive financial burden for Nigeria and a lost opportunity for domestic economic development.

Data from the World Bank also indicated a sluggish pace in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, with productivity growing only 1.2 percent per annum, lower than the country’s population growth rate of 2.6 percent.

The threat of violent herders posing as bandits in North Central and North West regions has emerged as another major impediment to domestic agriculture, with farmers being targeted and killed in attacks that seek to subjugate and steal from them. Farmers who survive these brutal assaults are often driven off their ancestral lands, forced to cultivate and harvest crops for the bandits, or pay the perpetrators for the right to work their own land.

As Nigeria celebrates its 64th year of independence, the country’s farmers, the backbone of its agricultural sector, find themselves in a nightmarish scenario of insecurity, enduring unspeakable atrocities by bandits and terrorists with little to no protection from the authorities. The bitter irony is that security, a fundamental human right, has been reduced to a privilege reserved for the few, leaving farmers and common people at the mercy of their assailants.

Despite the obstacles faced by the agricultural sector, recent data points to encouraging signs of growth and resilience. The sector has consistently contributed a substantial portion of the nation’s GDP, averaging 24 percent over the past decade, and recent data from the second quarter of 2024 shows a positive trend, with a 1.6 percent increase in the sector’s GDP contribution compared to the previous year.

The strong performance of the agricultural sector in the third quarter of 2022, with an all-time high GDP of N5625362.33 milion, underscores the ongoing momentum of its growth and the sector’s vast potential for continued success.

The NBS report also highlighted the fundamental importance of the agricultural sector in the Nigerian labour market, providing employment for 25 million individuals in farming, forestry, and fishing activities. This workforce accounted for 30.1 percent of the total labour pool, underscoring agriculture’s central role as the lifeblood of the country’s economy, even as other sectors experience growth and expansion albeit at a lower rate.

The NBS data provides further evidence of agriculture’s stronghold in the Nigerian labour market, with 25,341,219 individuals employed in the sector. This figure far surpasses the employment figures of other industries, including wholesale and retail trade, which employs 23,133,193 people, or 27.5 percent of the total workforce.

Despite modern technology’s proven potential to enhance agricultural productivity and ensure food security, analysts have identified a significant gap in the sector’s adoption of these advancements. This reluctance to embrace technological innovation has become a stumbling block on the path to achieving food security and nutritional stability.

Given the critical role of agriculture in securing food security and nutrition, industry experts have pointed out that it is imperative for all stakeholders to come together to facilitate the successful integration of modern technology into the agricultural sector. Governments and private partners have also been advised to work in tandem to provide the financial and policy support necessary to unleash the full potential of technological advancements, ensuring that the industry is well-equipped to meet the rising demand for food in the face of population growth.

Promise Amahah, director general of the Nigerian Young Farmers Network, has issued a stark warning that the absence of young farmers in a country with a population of over 200 million portends a looming food security crisis. With the younger generation turning away from agriculture, Amahah stresses the need for swift and decisive action to attract more young farmers and safeguard the country’s food security.

In a bid to make agriculture more attractive to young, innovative minds, Amahah called for an overhaul of the sector’s image. He highlighted that agriculture has evolved beyond the use of traditional farming tools and now encompasses the use of cutting-edge technology, making it imperative to showcase this modern face of agriculture to the younger generation. This, according to him, is crucial to inspire interest and involvement in the sector, ensuring a seamless transition from the aging farmers to the next generation of agriculturalists.

Amahah also dwelled on the vast potential of agritech, from AI-powered crop management to robotics and precision farming, to modernize and revolutionise the sector. With the global agritech industry worth billions of dollars and constantly evolving, he urged the younger generation to recognize that agriculture has evolved into a cutting-edge, high-tech field that holds immense opportunities for those who embrace it

“How we can correct the challenges in the agric sector is to create an ecosystem that is all-inclusive, that engages both young farmers, processors, value chain aggregators within the same ecosystem so that everyone has a role cut out for them,” he suggested.

Amahah also stressed that young people need to be made aware that the agricultural industry offers a diverse range of opportunities, beyond traditional farming.

Agriculture, he pointed out, is already the largest employer in the country, but tapping into the potential of other value chains such as post-harvest management, research and development, essential services, and mechanisation can empower young people and revolutionise the industry. He also stressed that by showcasing the abundance of career paths within agriculture, Nigeria can foster a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs to drive its agricultural sector forward.

Amahah underscored the urgent need for the country’s agricultural sector to move away from its reactive approach and adopt a more proactive, forward-thinking strategy.  He noted further that by focusing on the entire value chain, from production to distribution, marketing, and processing, the sector could unlock a plethora of opportunities for young people.

This holistic approach to agriculture, Amahah argued, would not only bolster employment prospects but also allow the government to implement comprehensive planning and management to guarantee a sustainable future for the industry.

In his comments on the pathway towards food sustainability for Nigeria, Steve Okeleji, CEO of Aquatic Hub Afrique Network, an aquaculture consulting agency, emphasised the vital role of technology in advancing and modernising the country’s food systems.

“Nigeria has more than enough capacity to feed itself. With approximately three to four million hectares of arable land, we can achieve food sufficiency if we invest in the right agricultural practices and technologies,” he stressed.

Being a staunch believer in the power of technology, Okeleji  urged policymakers to prioritise strategic investments in technological advancements to unleash the sector’s immense potential. Okeleji posits that these investments could lead to self-sufficiency in food production

On its part, the Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting good governance and development in underserved communities, has urged for proactive measures to address the destructive impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector.

Noting the global implications of climate change, particularly in Nigeria, PLSI stressed that immediate and decisive action is required to address the sector’s vulnerabilities and ensure its long-term sustainability.

PLSI, in a report entitled “Revitalizing Nigeria’s Agricultural Sector: Climate-Resilient Solutions for Sustainable Development”, posits that effective strategies to address the urgent challenges posed by climate change will necessitate a concerted effort that leverages policy reforms, strategic partnerships, and the integration of cutting-edge technologies.

This approach, PLSI maintains, will lead to fundamental changes in the structure and operation of the sector, enabling Nigeria to effectively address the challenges of climate change and revitalize its agricultural sector.