According to data, the value of agricultural items imported into the country in the first quarter of 2022 was N443.35 billion higher than the value of exports, despite continuing security concerns that hurt the sector’s performance.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the value of all agricultural items traded in the first quarter of 2022 was N644.94 billion, of which N201.59 billion was exported.
The banking sector had criticised the impact of various measures made for the agriculture sector on insecurity.
The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, said, “The Bankers’ Committee called on the Federal Government to prioritise efforts to curb the menace of insecurity to enable farming and other business activities return to normalcy.”
A member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Mohammed Salisu, said “Drivers of inflation, especially food inflation, in Nigeria include disruption to farming activities and inter-state trade because of worsening security conditions, rural road infrastructural deficits, persistent supply chain disruptions, post-harvest losses, and sustained exchange rate pressures with pass-through to domestic prices.”
Compared to the value recorded in Q4, 2021 (N132.71 billion) and Q1, 2021 (N127.31 billion), exports of agricultural items climbed by 51.89 per cent and 58.35 per cent, according to further data acquired from the NBS.
Due to insecurity, Nigeria’s agricultural imports are N503 billion higher than exports.
Asia received agricultural exports worth N101.99 billion during the quarter, followed by Europe with N27.49 billion.
Superior grade cocoa beans, valued at N72.59 billion, dominated the export of agricultural goods, followed by sesame seeds, broken or not, at N56.45 billion and common quality cocoa beans, at N13.21 billion.
By trade, “Superior quality raw cocoa beans” worth N27.16 billion and N16.11 billion were transported to The Netherlands and Belgium.
Sesamum seeds worth N24.34bn and N11.11bn were exported to China and Japan, respectively, followed by exports of common quality cocoa beans worth N6.70 and N2.74bn to Germany and Malaysia, respectively.
Total agricultural goods imported in Q1, 2022 stood at N443.36bn or 7.51 per cent of total imports in Q1, 2022.
This shows a decrease of 33.55 per cent compared to the value recorded in Q4, 2021 (N667.16bn) and rose by 8.39 per cent compared to the value recorded in Q1, 2021(N409.03bn).
