DEMAND FOR CROPS IN NIGERIA & HOW THE ITS EXPECTED GROWTH OVER THE YEARS GRAPH/CHARTS

Nigeria is projected to have a population of 400 million by 2050. And more than 80% of Nigeria farmers are small-scale farmers. From 2016-2019 Nigeria total agricultural imports stood at 3.35trillion that is 4 times higher than the export of N803 billion within the same period. Between January and March 2021, Agriculture contributed to 22.35% of the total GDP. crop production remains the largest segment and it account for about 87.6% of the sectors total output

I would like to give some information on how this demand is growing, rice production rose from 3.7mil metric tons in 2017 to 4.0mil metric tons in 2018.

Also, cassava, which increased from 57.2million metric tons in 2018 to 59.6million metric tons in 2019 making Nigeria the world largest producer of cassava in the world, but also the highest consumer of cassava, consuming 61million metric tons in 2019. the country is yet to meet sufficient domestic demand for cassava.

 There still exist a supply gap in the demand for cassava starch (290 metric tonnes) and flour (485 metric tonnes).

Also, there’s an estimate that Nigeria could need about 28.3million metric tonnes for fresh cassava root planted annually      on about 1.2million hectares of land to meet the country demand for cassava. It is expected to grow at a rate of 4.2% between 2021 and 2026.

These increase demand can also be found in other crop types like maize, yam, tomatoes etc.

Yam is second-highest crop on the list of top crops produced in Nigeria behind cassava, and are one of the most expensive crops to produce; the planting and harvesting processes require significant labor input, yam seeds are expensive, and the supply of seed is limited and is widely consumed locally.50.1 million tonnes was produced in 2019 out of which zero was exported. All 50.1 million tonnes were consumed locally.

what does this tell us, that The Nigerian agricultural sector is expected to continue growing in the coming years, driven by increasing demand for food and agricultural products. And the economic potentials are enormous with high revenue yields.                           

The sector is projected to grow at an annual rate of 4.6% between 2021 and 2026, with crop production, livestock, and fisheries being the major growth areas and the market is expected to reach $6093.13 billion by 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of 7%.