Agriculture has been the mainstay of the Nigerian economy as far back as the 1920s contributing substantially to economic development through employment creation and the country’s GDP before the discovery of crude oil in the 1950s. According to Ukeje, (2003), agriculture contributed about 64% to Nigeria’s GDP in the 1960s. However, there was a steady decline in that figure to 19% in 1985 due to a mono-economic pursuit of the nation on crude oil. Nevertheless, agriculture still employs a vast majority of the country’s population to date, with most farmers cultivating on a small scale.
It is pertinent to note here that the Nigeria agricultural sector can only thrive as far as what is allocated to make the industry better; agricultural research and development, infrastructural development (storage facilities, rural roads, electrification, Agro-processing facilities), provision of inputs (machinery, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, irrigation facilities, qualities seeds and seedlings, extension services), mitigation of post-harvest losses amongst others. Additionally, small and medium-scale farmer-tailored agricultural policies must be formulated to enable those who have piloted to scale production and those on the side-line pilot, not just in the field production area but to embrace the diversified nature of the agribusiness sector. The Nigeria agribusiness sector is majorly small and medium-scale driven and requires scaling up: Land size, Inputs, and Outputs in order to improve its contribution to the country’s GDP and make the country’s food sufficient. This is because agribusiness is not just centered on crop or animal production alone but has many untapped branches that have not fully been exploited. The development of the untapped sectors is needed to galvanize the activities of the field production sector thereby creating a more suitable farm-to-fork pathway. For instance, the agricultural technology sector is still at its nascent stage.
“When I started a pilot, it took me about a week to find a suitable logistics firm to convey palm kernel nuts to another state and I am sure a lot of people would share the same sentiments”
LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN
The Non-perishable Agricultural produce has been fortunate enough to have a system. Perishable produce like Onions, Tomatoes, Cassava, Yams, Poultry products, etc. hasn't been so fortunate. Many cases of high fatality have been witnessed leading to produce losses in a food system that is already facing crises. In June 2016, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture lost millions of naira trying to export yam. By the time the yams got to its proposed destination, the majority had gotten bad. Most perishable and/or low shelf life agricultural produce follow the cold chain and the supply chain cum logistics system of this sector is still a far cry from what is expected. This intervention may not necessarily be government driven. The private sector has a major role to play and a public-private partnership (PPP) would go a long way in fully developing this sector.
PRECISION AGRICULTURE
Agronomic practices like fertigation, herbicide, and pesticide application have to move from the known rudimentary method of manual application to aerial precision which makes it possible for large-scale farming to thrive. This agribusiness technology is in short supply and therefore makes it difficult for smallholder farmers and medium-scale agribusinesses to scale and expand their operations further. This sector can be purely private-driven and would go a long way in helping farmers scale production.
SOILLESS FARMING
According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) (FAO, 2018), 820 million people are already experiencing a hunger crisis amid food production challenges. The same body also stated that amid the hunger crisis and food production challenges, the World population is growing geometrically while food production is only increasing arithmetically. Similarly, the World population is projected to increase by 2.3 billion by the year 2050 while food production would have to increase by 70% in developing countries to meet up with the increasing demands (FAO, 2009). Nevertheless, while the population of the World keeps increasing, available land size is constant with so much pressure on it from other competing sectors; housing, roads, rail, and other infrastructure.
Sequel to the above, there is a need to adopt vertical farming or hydroponics for the purpose of cultivation. In Hydroponics, plant nutrients are mixed in water with a high level of oxygen and delivered to plant roots directly. Wide adoption of vertical farming is the way forward as it ensures that temperature, humidity, and other adverse climatic conditions that affect crop production due to climate change are optimized or mitigated to some extent. Besides this, vertical farming ensures that crop production is done all-year round without breaking the production cycle.
AGRICULTURE PROCESSING
Most agricultural produce; vegetables, tubers, dairy products, etc have a short shelf life and are therefore highly perishable. Processing finished or semi-finished products can help elongate their shelf life and reduce post-harvest losses. Setting up processing facilities in farming communities is a viable agribusiness sector that still needs to be fully tapped into. The rice, cassava, and oil palm processing agribusiness model has to be replicated to other products like onions, garlic, ginger (to process them into power), tomatoes, yam, and fruits among others. For instance, Benue state is a hub for fruits; mango, oranges, pineapple, cashew, etc but there is no functional processing facility for these value chains.
MARKET LINKAGE
As stated earlier, the Nigerian agricultural system is saturated with smallholder farmers and most of their produce ends up in local markets or off-taken by middlemen with little returns to the farmers just enough for the next production cycle. However, the world has become a global village. With the help of digital agricultural platforms like Agricvendor and other similar platforms, Ginger produced in Kagarko in Kaduna State can be accessed easily by buyers in Norway or Bayelsa State ensuring transparent pricing and ensuring farmers also get full returns on their investment in the agricultural sector.
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