Nigeria’s Agric Sector Grew by Only 12% in 5 Years, Weakened Under Tinubu
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.
TheCable Index 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.
“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”.
“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, adding that “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.
Between 2015 and 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched large-scale programmes such as the anchor borrowers’ programme (ABP), commercial agriculture credit scheme (CACS), and the agricultural credit guarantee scheme fund (ACGSF), channeling hundreds of billions of naira into crop production and livestock.
The ABP, launched in November 2015 by late President Muhammadu Buhari, was the government’s main agricultural initiative.
The ABP aimed to provide farmers with agri-inputs in cash and kind. The initiative also sought to connect farmers with off-takers, who were expected to pay fair prices.
However, the programme was discontinued in 2023, when the CBN, under the leadership of Olayemi Cardoso, formally ended development financing.