Agric Sector Grew by Only 12% in 5 Years – Report
Nigeria’s agricultural sector recorded only a marginal growth in the past five years, expanding by just 12 percent between 2019 and 2024, according to a Quartus Economics report.
The report, titled ‘Stalled Growth: Inside Nigeria’s Agriculture GDP’, said the sector rose from N52.8 trillion in 2019 to N59.3 trillion in 2024 but failed to cross the N60 trillion mark.
“In 2024, Agriculture maintained its trajectory of tepid growth with a 2% growth year on year as the sector continues to lag the nation’s population growth,” Quartus Economics said.
According to the report, within agriculture, “none of the 4 industry groups delivered stellar performance during the 5-year period between 2020 and 2024”
Analysis of the data showed that while the sector boasted of a slight growth, crop production weakened under President Bola Tinubu‘s government, which was inaugurated on May 29, 2023.
For instance, a subsector examination of the report indicated that growth in crop production slowed from the annual average of 3.75 percent recorded during the prior four years between 2020 and 2023 to 2.9 percent in 2024 alone.
“The industry added an average of around N1.61 trillion annually between 2020 and 2023. In 2024, however, this figure dropped to ₦1.2 trillion in growth”, the report reads.
“Altogether, the industry added N6.44 trillion to GDP over the past 5 years and continues to dominate agricultural output.”
According to Quartus, the fishing line delivered little in terms of contribution, expanding by only 2.4 percent over the last five years.
“Between 2020 and 2023, the fishing industry experienced sluggish growth,” the report said.
“The industry grew by only 3.1% during the period and added only N75.5 billion to its gross production.
“By 2024, the industry fell into decline with a 1% annual drop, which represented a production loss of N15.1 billion in real, i.e. inflation-adjusted terms.”
The report said livestock output rose by N450 billion between 2020 and 2023, but more than half of the value was wiped out in 2024 alone.
The sector declined by 2.1 percent, with a N261.5 billion loss in GDP, according to the firm.
“Climate-related disruptions, insecurity, and inadequate infrastructure, which reduced productivity, greater losses and forced greater reliance on imports to meet demand,” Quartus Economics said.
Quartus said forestry, which lost 8 percent of its 2019 value by 2023, regained only part of its decline with a 3 percent rebound in 2024.
Although the sector recovered about 28 percent of its production loss over the past four years, the economics firm said it remained down by 6 percent compared to 2019, resulting in a combined loss of N159 billion.
SOURCE: The Cable