N7.81 trillion was spent by Nigeria between 2016 and 2021 on agricultural imports, whereas N874.83 billion was allocated for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Agricultural products worth N2.74tn were imported into the country last year, according to a Punch report on imports for the period under consideration.
In contrast, 2016 saw the fewest imports throughout the same time period. Nigeria imported agricultural items worth N656.4 billion in 2016.
There were many reasons given by agricultural company operators as to why imports were so large in comparison to projected amounts that were often not completely released to the agriculture ministry for evaluation.
A look at the government’s 2016 to 2021 budgets for the ministry revealed that the country’s agriculture sector will be boosted by N874.83bn.
Nigeria imported N7.81tn worth of agricultural goods in 2013, according to data derived from 24 quarterly reports from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on ‘Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics’.
It was found that in 2016, the agriculture ministry received a total of N75.8 billion in capital projects and recurrent expenditures, making it N46.17 billion.
The ministry’s capital (N103.79bn) and recurrent (N53.81bn) budgets for 2017 and 2018 were N172.79bn and N172.79bn, respectively.
There was a total of N164.89bn allocated to the FMARD’s capital and operating budgets in 2019.
N183.1bn is the sum of the capital budget of N124.4bn and the recurring budget of N58.69bn for 2020.
The ministry’s capital budget for 2021 was N110.24 billion. At N69.22 billion, the overall budget for previous year was N174.46 billion.
According to the NBS’s Foreign Trade in Items Statistics, the country imported N2.74tn worth of agricultural goods last year.
According to the bureau’s quarterly reports, agricultural goods imports were N667.16bn in the fourth quarter, N789.1bn in the third quarter, N652.08bn in the second quarter, and N630.2bn in the first quarter of 2021.
Nigeria imported N1.713tn worth of agricultural goods in 2020, spending N532.4bn in Q4 of the year and N503.4bn in Q3 and N415.6bn in Q1 of the year.
In 2019, N959.48 billion was spent on agro-commodity imports, with N233.3 billion spent in Q4, N239.9 billion in Q3, N249.95 billion in Q2 and N236.33 billion in Q1.
Imports of agricultural products accounted for N851.7bn in revenue in 2018. There was a total of N218.8bn spent on imports in the fourth quarter, followed by N224.3bn in the third quarter, and N224.5bn in the second quarter.
A total of N886.7bn worth of agricultural items were imported into Nigeria in 2017, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). According to the company’s 2017 fourth-quarter report, this was the case.
The overall quantity of agricultural items imported into the country in 2016 was N656.4bn, according to the Q4 2017 report.
The biggest agricultural products imported into Nigeria include Durum wheat, crude palm oil, and palm olein, among others, according to the various quarterly reports.
Large agricultural product imports into Nigeria have been criticized by industry players, who blame the situation on the many difficulties the industry faces.
Our correspondent spoke with Kabir Ibrahim, national president of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, who explained to him that Nigeria’s decreased production was to blame for the country’s low exports and high imports.
Furthermore, the instability and lack of agro-inputs were cited as important obstacles to Nigeria’s sector and its operators.
Since the amount of goods we can export has decreased due to lower productivity, we must rely on imports to keep up with local demand. Every real investor in the agricultural industry in this country should be concerned by this.”
