Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of agricultural goods exports marginally increased by 0.44 per cent to N280.87 billion in the second quarter of 2023 compared with the N279.64 billion recorded in Q1 2023, but higher than the N141.77 billion recorded in the second quarter of last year by 98.1 per cent.
This information is from the latest Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Q2 2023 report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which showed that the country witnessed a 5.8 per cent growth in the period under review at N12.74 trillion.
Out of this, total trade in agricultural goods in Q2 of 2023 stood at N735.72 billion, of which exports were valued at N280.87 billion (38 per cent), and imports remained high, despite a drop in the three-month period, stood at N454.85 billion (62 per cent).
During this quarter, most agricultural products were exported to Asia, valued at N202.61 billion, followed by Europe with N55.52 billion.
The NBS data showed that the 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, followed by ‘Sesamum seeds’ at 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.
In terms of imports, the N454.85 billion accounted for 7.94 per cent of total imports in Q2 of 2023, a decrease of 3.5 per cent when compared to the value recorded in Q1, 2023 (N471.39 billion) and by 2.1 per cent when compared to the value recorded in Q2, 2022 (N464.45 billion).
The major agriculture goods imported in Q2, 2023 included ‘Durum wheat (not in seeds)’ from Poland with N44.80 billion and Lithuania with N41.63 billion. This was followed by ‘Fractions of Palm oil and its fractions, not fit for human consumption.’ from Malaysia, valued at N19.60 billion.
Agriculture is one of the economic backbones of Nigeria, with experts estimating that Nigeria’s agricultural sector, which provides nearly one-quarter of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employs two-thirds of the labour force, has the potential to generate $40 billion in exports. However, low access to electricity and other technologies is hurting the country’s export opportunities, which are further limited by rigorous export processes.
