Agricultural imports rise 10% despite CBN intervention
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Agricultural imports grew 10.4 per cent to N512.91 billion in the third quarter of the year ended September (Q 3 2022), from N464.4 billion in Q2 2022 and 6.4 per cent more than N482.2 billion in Q3 2021.
Agricultural export slashed 40.6 per cent to N84.21 billion in Q3 2022 from N141.76 billion in Q2 2022 but grew 6 per cent compared with N79.41 billion in Q3 2021, according to the latest report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
It declined despite huge investment by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which said it has disbursed N1.07 trillion under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to more than 4.6 million smallholder farmers cultivating 21 commodities as of September this year.
The CBN also disbursed N745.31 billion to finance 680 large-scale projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS).
NBS data shows the agricultural sector grew 1.34 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in real terms in Q3 2022, a marginal improvement on 1.2 per cent in Q2 2022, per reporting by Nairametrics.
In contrast, the sector had 2.15 per cent growth in 2020 and 2.09 per cent in 2021.
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Rising food inflation
Agriculture contributed about 29.67 per cent to GDP in Q3 2022, an increase against 23.24 in Q2 2022 but lower than 29.94 per cent in Q3 2021.
Food inflation rose to a 17-year high in October 2022 at 23.72 per cent but was 23.39 in Q3 2022 and 20.67 per cent in Q2 2022.
Nairametrics writes the rising cost of food items is attributed to insecurity ravaging the North coupled with flooding and disruption in the food supply chain.
The global energy crisis has also affected production as farmers now spend more on diesel to power machinery and transport farm produce.
Agricultural is very vital to the growth of the economy considering the amount of labour it employs and its strategic importance in food security and sustainability.