Production of Exportable Agricultural Commodities in Nigeria

The agricultural sector is a significant sector in the economy of Nigeria because it serves as a foremost role in quick development of the country (Ayinde et al., 2015). Agriculture provides job opportunities for above 70% of the growing population, serves as source of food, foreign exchange earnings for the growth of industries and source of raw materials (Giroh et al., 2010). Despite the prevalence and important reliance of Nigeria economy on oil sector, agriculture still remains an important source of economic resilience and mainstay (National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, (NEEDS), 2004; Ayinde et al., 2015). Since 1970, agriculture performance in Nigeria noticeably revealed that its contribution is above 30% of the yearly Gross Domestic Product (GDP), provides above 80% of the food required of the nation; and likewise account for more than 70% of the exports of non-oil as cited by Ayinde et al. (2015). Succeeding crude oil, agriculture is the second biggest export earner but as a result of oil boom, the percentage contribution of agriculture to GDP drastically fall (Ayinde et al., 2015). It is vital to consider that Nigeria which happens to be a foremost exporter of numerous agricultural products such as rubber, groundnuts, cocoa and palm kernel has completely misplaced her governance place in the export of these agricultural yield (Mesike et al. 2007; Ayinde et al., 2015).

Regardless of the steady development in the worth of Nigeria’sagriculture exports over the period of 2016 to 2018, the nation’sagriculture exports to overall exports lingered beneath 2% (www.pwc.com; Onakoya et al., 2020). The nation’stotal export of agricultural commodities was motivated by export of crude palm kernel oil, ginger, fermented cocoa beans, soya beans, sesame seeds (broken or not broken), prawns, cashew nuts, frozen shrimps and agro foods. Cumulatively, from export of agriculture, the nation earned ₦0.53 trillion between the period of 2016 and 2018 whereas, total agriculture imports bill of Nigeria stood at ₦2.39 trillion over the same era (www.pwc.com). Due to this, deficit of agriculture trade stood at ₦1.86 trillion. Hence, the nation is a food importer. In 2019 between January to June, agricultural exports of Nigeria rose to ₦152.3 billion based on the released National Bureau Statistics (NBS) foreign trade information which covers the first and second part in 2019. Among the exportable agricultural commodities in Nigeria, sesame seeds remain the largest earner in the previous years, followed by fermented cocoa beans which is the second largest agricultural export whereas cashew nuts is the third leading agricultural export. Other agricultural products include Ginger and agro-food items (Nairametrics, 2019). Nigeria’sbiggest market for sesame seeds are China, South Korea, Belgium, Germany, Turkey and Japan; for cocoa include Malaysia, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Indonesia; while market for cashew nuts are Tanzania, India, Vietnam, Netherlands and Russia (Nairametrics, 2019). According to Onwusiribe et al. (2018), in Nigeria, ginger farmers are majorly dominated by smallholder farmers and are confronted by the inaccessibility of huge hectares of land for industrialized farming. Likewise, ginger price from Nigeria is unpleasant which is ascribed to its low quality from the country and as a result of this, it is not economical in the global market. The utmost challenges encountered in exportation of root and tuber in Nigeria is the low quality of production of ginger and supply. However, poor implementation of economic policy in the form of exchange rates, is also part of the challenges encountered in the international market of ginger (Onwusiribe et al., 2018). Furthermore, Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) reported in 2018 that their members encountered difficulties in the aspect of absence of funding from the government, unfavorable weather state and fake chemicals used by the farmers. Cocoa is crucial to the source of revenue of between 40 and 50 million people globally which also includes above 5 million smallholder cocoa farmers who cultivate this valued crop (Biney, 2017). According to International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), it was reported in 2017 that West Africa yields 70% of the global cocoa market which about 90% of these produce is generated from farms that are small consisting less than 5 hectares of land (www.iita.org). The challenges Nigeria as are to transform increased agricultural production into upsurge exports. Despite determinations to develop the export of agricultural commodities via sequences of interventions, the expected outcomes were barely accomplished with the capacity of production still extreme beneath anticipation when associated to the volume in the early 1970s before oil boom (Biney, 2017). Meanwhile, agriculture sector is the leading supplier to the GDP of Nigeria, unraveling the prospects of agricultural exports is vital. Despite the lessen in agricultural exports, it contributes considerably to job opportunities in Nigeria. Therefore, the general objective of this study is to evaluate the production of exportable agricultural commodities (Cocoa, Cashew and Ginger) among exporters in Nigeria.