The Federal Government has expressed concern over Nigeria’s low earnings from agricultural exports, noting that the sector contributes significantly to the economy but generates less than $400 million in foreign exchange.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, made this known at the First Bank of Nigeria Ltd., 2025 Agric and Export Expo, on Tuesday in Lagos.
“Agriculture already contributes 35 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product and employs 35 per cent of our workforce.
“We sit on 85 million hectares of urban land with a youth population of over 70 per cent under the age of 30, yet Nigeria accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of global exports.
“However, Nigeria earns less than $400 million from agro exports. To build a non-oil export economy, we must rethink how we finance agriculture,” he said.
Kyari reiterates Tinubu’s commitment to Nigeria’s food sovereignty
The Minister reiterated the Tinubu administration’s stance on ensuring food sovereignty of the country, while insisting on increased financing of agriculture.
“President Tinubu’s administration has made it clear that food sovereignty is the goal. Nigeria must not only feed itself, but do so on its own terms, free from excessive dependency on imports.
“Sovereignty means ensuring that no Nigerian goes hungry because of shocks in the global food supply chain, allowing every community to stand on the strength of our land, our people, and our productivity.
“Boosting domestic production and building support for exports are not separate agendas. They are two sides of the same coin.
“We have the land, the labour, and the markets, but we lack the system of financing, value addition, and infrastructure that converts potential into prosperity.
“The fundamentals compel that we pilot from dependence on oil rigs to resilience in food and export earnings from rural commodity exports to value-added agribusiness.
“From fragmented farmer credit to structured financial systems that attract significant capital and from stereotyped perceptions to improved participation of youth in the agricultural sector,” Kyari said.
He also stressed the need for improved mechanisms and critical thinking to boost food security.
“Nigeria can do better if we begin to think critically and improve mechanisms such as revenue sharing, finance, agricultural goals with performance triggers, factoring forward contracts, Pay-as-Harvest, and the rest.
“These are not abstract theories. They are working in real economies,” he said.
Backstory
In the recently released National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report, trade accounted for 18.21% of GDP in Q1 2025, edging out crop production at 17.47%.
This marks a reversal from the pre-rebasing data for Q4 2024, where crop production accounted for 23.42% of GDP—well ahead of trade, which contributed 15.11%.
“Trade’s contribution to GDP was 18.21%, lower than the 18.45% it represented in the previous year, and higher than the 17.18% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024,” the report said.
In April, the Federal Government launched the Green Money Project, a presidential initiative designed to empower young Nigerians through modern agricultural practices.
The Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Agriculture, Abiodun Yinusa, described the Project as a strategic initiative while speaking at its inauguration held at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB).
One of the key objectives of the project was to enhance food security significantly and sustainably by leveraging the potential of unemployed youth as agents of agricultural transformation
