Africas most populous nation had an overwhelmingly agricultural economy during the hundred years spent under British colonial rule since 1860, and well into the first decade nearest its independence.
In the 1960s Nigeria was the worlds second largest causation of cocoa, the largest exporter of palm oil and a principal ground and exporter of cotton, rubber and groundnut. Working acknowledged equipment and practices, Nigerian peasants contributed 70 % of export revenue and 60 % of GDP in the corresponding period1. The total food requirement was met midpoint entirely by local produce and agricultural imports were to the bare minimum.
Case poles apart too much with the oil boom of the 1970s, as the description of capacious oil and gas resources in the strategically pregnant sub - Saharan nation rancid its fortunes drive. The windfall transformed Nigerias agricultural landscape into a gigantic oil field crisscrossed by more than 7, 000 km of pipelines connecting 6, 000 oil wells, two refineries, innumerable flow stations and export terminals.
The colossal investments in the sector paid off, with unofficial estimates suggesting Abuja raked in more than $600 billion in petrodollars in the last decade alone.
Unfortunately, the obsession with non - renewables over all other sectors of the economy eventually rancid Nigerias boon into a bane. Newfound assets spawned political instability and massive corruption in government circles, and the country was rent asunder by decades of unrestrained civil hostility and later military coups. Agriculture was one of the first casualties of the oil regime, and by the 1990s, sprouting accounted for righteous 5 % of GDP2. Farming modernisation and support king-size to hang in low on the catalogue of national priorities as capacious stretches of rural Nigeria gradually plunged into poverty and food scarcity. Deforestation, soil erosion and industrial pollution further hastened the down - spiral of agriculture to the point where it ended up as a provision animation.
The fall of Nigerian agriculture coincided with the collapse of its macroeconomic and human development indicators. With income distribution concentrated on a few urban pockets, the majority of rural Nigeria was left reeling under massive poverty, unemployment and food shortages. A widening urban - rural divide sparked social unrest and mass migration into towns and cities. Organised urban crime became as real a security threat as militancy in the Niger Delta region. Nigeria plummeted to the bottom in world economic rankings and Africas most populous nation acquired the unhappy distinction of having more than half ( 54 % ) of its 148 million people living in abject poverty3. The World Bank coined the term Nigerian Paradox specifically to describe the unique condition of extreme underdevelopment and poverty in a country brimming with resources and potential. The country was ranked 80th in a 2007 UNDP poverty survey covering 108 countries.
The transition to democratic civilian rule at the end of the last century paved the way for an enthusiastic programme of economic reform and restructuring. Abujas urgency for inclusive growth was much in evidence in the adoption of an ambitious blueprint designed to reverse trends and jumpstart a stagnating economy. The Vision 2020 document adopted under former president O Obsanjo lays out broad parameters for sustainable development with the specific goal of instating Nigeria as a global economic superpower in a time - bound manner. The 2020 goals are in addition to Nigerias commitment to the UN Millennial Declaration of 2000 that proposes universal basic human rights by 2015.
The realisation of these allied and intertwined objectives depends entirely on Abujas ability to bring about inclusive growth by means of an entrepreneurial revolution, while simultaneously correcting massive infrastructural shortages and administrative anomalies. Economies usually begin expanding with an initial agricultural revolution: The case of Nigeria however calls for agriculture to be part of a larger enterprise revolution that efficiently leverages the nations extensive resources and human capital.
The intricacy of issues involved here is reflected in the fact that the National Poverty Eradication Programme of 2001 identifies agriculture and rural development as its primary area of interest. The fact that all development has to begin from the bottom - up cannot be overemphasised in the context of Nigeria, where a farming boom can ensure not just food supply and exports but also provide industrial raw materials and a market for products.
Agricultural expansion is key to Nigerias economic prosperity and long - term goals, especially considering its massive poverty - eradication challenge. The following are some of the most urgent prerequisites to coordinating a successful agricultural revolution:
* Active promotion and establishment of agro - based industries that generate employment, sustain local food requirements and encourage exports.
* Effective steps to modernise and diversify the agricultural economy as a means of buttressing entrepreneurial growth in ancillary sectors.
* Institution of a tariff system that promotes local produce against cheaper imports, together with the removal of institutional barriers against agricultural profitability.
* Subsidies on technologically advanced farm equipment and practices that help boost productivity without any adverse ecological side effects.
* An umbrella poverty alleviation programme designed specifically to promote agrarian reforms while simultaneously improving the quality of life in rural communities.
* Enhanced access to agricultural enterprise loans through a network of regulated lending institutions sympathetic to farming realities.
* Adult education programmes designed to help Nigerian farmers upgrade to locally relevant but modern methods of cultivation, marketing and distribution.
* Encouragement of both public and private sector agricultural research aimed at correcting technological constraints faced by local farming communities.
If Nigerias agricultural potential is enormous, it is partly because more than 90 % of its 91 million hectares of total land area is arable4. While soil fertility is generally estimated on the lower side, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation ( FAO ) predicts medium to high yields across the country with optimal utilisation of resources. Combined with Nigerias substantial rural population traditionally involved in agriculture, this projection translates to gigantic prospects in terms of agricultural productivity and, by extension, economic resurgence.
For a nation emerging out of a troubled past and struggling to attain social, political and economic stability, the ideals of agricultural and entrepreneurial revolution hold vitally important. Because they are also inextricably linked in the Nigerian context, the countrys future position on the world economic stage depends literally on the bounty of its harvest.
