Find Agriculture expertise in Nigeria
- Nature of agriculture
- Development of industry
Agriculture, forestry and fisheries contribute over 35% of Nigeria’s GDP (2010) and over 81% of land is given over to agricultural use. The agricultural sector is mainly small scale subsistence farming and is very diverse. Agricultural produce includes cocoa, palm oil, rubber, peanuts, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca) and yams and a range of livestock – cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. The principal export products are cocoa and rubber, with partners in Europe, Asia, North and South America. Agricultural policies and programmes are administered on a national level by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.
The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report (2012-2013) ranks Nigeria 114th out of 144 countries with a score of 3.4 out of 7 in relation to agricultural policy costs, below the world average of 3.9. The Ministry aims to promote sustainability and competitiveness through the production of raw agricultural materials for the industrial sector. There is considerable donor involvement in the agricultural sector; the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) runs several programmes in the country such as the Rural Finance Institution-Building Programme (RUFIN) and the Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programme – Niger Delta. In addition to these initiatives which are mainly aimed at small and medium scale farming, there is increasing interest in developing large scale commercial farming in the country. One major pilot scheme has been to give land in the Kwara region to Zimbabwean and South African farmers which, it is hoped, will act as models for further development of other, Nigerian run, commercial farms.