Nigeria’s agricultural imports surged by 42% to N1.97 trillion in 2021, up from N1.19 trillion recorded in 2020, despite the humongous amount invested in the sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in recent months.
The recent figures also represent the highest amount on record spent on agricultural imports in any year, judging by figures from the foreign trade report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Meanwhile, Nigeria earned N504.89 billion from agric export in 2021, which is 57% higher than N321.54 billion recorded in the previous year and 87% more than the N269.83 billion recorded in 2019.
This brought the country’s annual agric trade balance to a deficit of N1.46 trillion.
The agricultural sector, which is the largest sector of the Nigerian economy, accounting for 25.9% of the GDP, with an estimated value of N18.74 trillion has been unable to meet local demands, much less earning significant FX from exportation.
In the year 2021, the sector recorded a 2.13% year-on-year growth in real terms, which is slower than the 2.17% growth printed in the year before. Over the years, several policies have been implemented in a bid to spur growth in the Nigerian agricultural sector. Some of these include a ban on importation of some food items, closure of land borders, and financial injection into the sector.