An
analysis of the figures showed that N86.09bn was earned in the first quarter of
2019. The N86.09bn which represents 42.69 per cent of agricultural exports is
the highest export revenue earned by farmers during the first three months of the
year.
The
NBS put the export earnings from agricultural produce in the second quarter at
N74.47bn. In the third quarter, the export revenue dropped by N31.37bn to N42.1bn.
Some
of the exported products in the third quarter were sesame seed with a value of
N14.83bn; cocoa beans N13.31bn, cashew nuts N2.91bn, frozen shrimps N2.25bn and
cocoa butter N2.04bn. Others were coconut N801m, flowers N473m, cotton N398.7m,
flour N369.7m, plants for perfumery N274.6m, and ginger N197.8m. The rest were
sesame oil N185m, gum Arabic N159.1m, vegetable fats N109.4m and broad beans
N106.4m.
According
to the Managing Director, Tak Integrated Agricultural Solutions Limited, Kabir Usman, Nigeria could earn huge
revenue from agriculture if the potential of the sector was effectively
harnessed. He recalled that before the discovery of crude oil, most of the nation’s
revenue came from agro-exports.
In
Usman’s own words, “This country was built on the
foundation of agriculture export and not on crude oil. Fifty years ago, Nigeria
was known as nation of agricultural
exports. We were known for production of organic farming. Agriculture is the
only sector that can create 100 millions of the jobs we are looking for.”
The
Executive Director and Chief Executive of Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC),
Olusegun Awolowo, said the council
was targeting to generate about $200m in the next 10 years from the development
of organic farming in seven priority commodities. Awolowo who put the global
organic food and drinks export at $97bn said that the Federal Government was
targeting to benefit from the huge market.
He
gave the seven products as ginger, tumeric, sesame seed, hibiscus flower, tiger
nut, moringa oleifera and cashew. Awolowo said the potential of the seven
products would be harnessed from states that had comparative advantage in them.
Some of the states are Kaduna,
Nassarawa, Cross River and Oyo, Cross River Benue Kogi, Niger, Jigawa, Katsina,
Bauchi, Kano and Gombe. Others are Abia, Ogun, Enugu, the Federal Capital
Territory, and Kwara.
In Awolowo’s
own words, “The Organic Farming Development Programme
for export is a critical market intervention and value chain linkage programme
under the Zero Oil Plan. The ultimate objective of the project is to contribute
to the Federal Government’s policy of developing the potential of the non-oil
sector of the economy.
“This will be achieved through improving production and post-harvest
handling of the seven priority organic products for export, with a view to
expanding and increasing Nigeria’s share in the global market.”
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