Nigeria’s agric growth slowed to 0.18 percent in the first quarter of 2024 despite the federal government declaring a state of emergency on the agricultural sector.
Data from the GDP report shows that growth in the sector saw a significant decline of 1.9 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis from the 2.1 percent growth rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023, narrowly avoiding a negative growth rate.
On a year-on-year basis, the sector grew marginally by 1.08 percent in real terms from a negative -0.9 percent growth rate recorded in the same quarter of 2023.
In July 2023, the federal government declared a state of emergency on food and unveiled a short, medium and long-term plan to revamp the country’s food system and address its food crisis.
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But not much has been achieved since the pronouncement was made.
Growth for the sub-sectors under the agric sector, crop production was the major driver of growth in the sector for the period under review. In the last five years, the sector has recorded a fluctuating growth rate of below 3 percent.
“The sector contributed 21.07 percent to overall GDP in real terms in Q1 2024, lower than the contribution in the first quarter of 2023 and lower than the fourth quarter of 2023 which stood at 21.66 percent and 26.11 percent, respectively,” the NBS said in its report.
Food inflation, a major driver of headline inflation hit a record high of 40.5 percent in April.
Investors over the years have become lackluster in investing in the agriculture industry, as they no longer see any returns on investment in the sector.
