December 10, (THEWILL) – Agricultural goods imported into the country in the third quarter of the year (Q3 2023) far exceeded agric exports with 192.5 percent, according to data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS in its Q3 2023 ‘Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics’ report published last week showed that the value of agricultural goods imported into the economy during the period rose to N643.68 billion.
This is an increase of 41.51 percent when compared to the value recorded in Q2, 2023 (N454.85 billion) and by 25.50 percent when compared to the value recorded in Q3, 2022 (N512.91 billion).
On the other hand, agric exports stood at N219.99 billion during the review period. The data revealed that exports of agricultural goods decreased by 21.68 percent over the value recorded in Q2, 2023 (N280.87 billion) and an increase of 161.25 percent when compared to the value recorded in Q3, 2022 (N84.21 billion), respectively.
The report showed that during this quarter, most agricultural products were exported to Asia, with goods valued at N122.51 followed by Europe with N60.03 billion. Export of agricultural products was dominated by ‘Superior quality Cocoa beans’ valued at N42.24 billion, ‘Other cut flowers & flower buds of kind suitable ornamental purposes fresh, dried, dyed,’ with N36.32 billion and ‘Sesamum seeds’ with N23.22 billion.
Further analysis shows that ‘Superior quality Cocoa beans’ worth N15.12 billion and N12.14 billion were exported to Indonesia and the Netherlands, respectively while ‘Other cut flowers & flower buds of kind suitable ornamental purposes fresh, dried, dyed,’ worth N11.85 billion and N8.31 billion were exported to Mexico and China respectively.
Also, ‘Sesamum seeds’ worth N4.85 billion and N4.17 billion were exported to Japan and Turkey, respectively.
The major agricultural goods imported in Q3, 2023 included ‘Durum wheat (not in seeds)’ from Poland with N90.46 billion and Canada with N73.03 billion. This was followed by ‘Mackerel (Scomber scombrus, Scomber australasicus, Scomber japonicus) meat, frozen.’ from Faroe Islands valued at N16.35 billion.
The value of total trade in agricultural goods in Q3, 2023 stood at N863.67 billion
A remarkable development is the return of cocoa as the major export commodity after it was displaced by cashew nuts in Q2 2023.
The NBS Q2 Trade in Foreign Goods report had revealed that cashew nuts displaced cocoa as the major agricultural exports commodity, pushing cocoa to the third position after Sesamum seeds
7Previously, cocoa (especially processed and semi-processed) occupied top positions among agricultural export commodities.
THEWILL had reported that export of agricultural products was dominated by ‘Cashew nuts Shelled’ valued at N57.79 billion followed by ‘Cashew nuts in shell,’ with N55.02 billion and ‘Sesamum seeds’ with N38.32 billion.
By direction of trade, ‘Cashew nuts Shelled’ worth N52.53 billion and N4.05 billion were exported to Vietnam and
India, respectively. Furthermore, ‘Cashew nuts in shell’ worth N34.72 billion and N18.83 billion were exported to Vietnam and India respectively, followed by exports of ‘Sesamum seeds’ worth N13.39 billion and N5.50 billion to Japan and China, respectively.
The displacement of cocoa by cashew nuts in the agricultural export priority points to a major challenge in Nigeria’s cocoa production which experts have drawn attention to.
In a document titled, “Addressing the Challenges of Cocoa Production in Nigeria”, by the Managing Director, Sunbeth Global Concepts (SGC) – a commodity trading firm – Olasunkanmi Owoyemi, had noted that Nigeria’s cocoa production is on the decline.
“Nigeria may be the fourth largest producer of cocoa globally, only trailing behind Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Indonesia, but its output is still comparatively low. Ivory Coast produces 2,200,000 tonnes of cocoa beans annually, while Nigeria’s total annual output is about 340,163 tonnes.
“If any segment of the agricultural industry has shown a potential to improve the country’s economy and contribute to employment generation, it is the cocoa industry. In the right position, the industry will generate more jobs for farmers and other players involved in the production value chain.
The industry, however, continues to grapple with limiting challenges, such as poor infrastructure, inadequate research and development, the lack of funding for farming startups, dearth of mechanised farming techniques, poor education of farmers, aging farmers and the lack of protection of local industries, all of which hamper its potential.”:
Owoyeme noted that despite this decline, cocoa remains the country’s principal non-oil foreign exchange earner. The declining price of crude oil continues to provide momentum for conversations about economic diversification into sectors such as agriculture. If any segment of the agricultural industry has shown a potential to improve the country’s economy and contribute to employment generation, it is the cocoa industry. In the right position, the industry will generate more jobs for farmers and other players involved in the production value chain.
To address these challenges, there is a need for collaboration between the government and private sector for investments in infrastructure development. Plus, rural cocoa-producing areas should receive higher priority during the execution of infrastructural development projects.
