Nigeria’s agricultural sector has posted only marginal growth over the past five years, expanding by 12 per cent between 2019 and 2024, according to a new report by Quartus Economics.

The Stalled Growth: Inside Nigeria’s Agriculture GDP report revealed that the sector rose from ₦52.8 trillion in 2019 to ₦59.3 trillion in 2024, but failed to cross the ₦60 trillion benchmark.

“In 2024, Agriculture maintained its trajectory of tepid growth with a 2% growth year on year as the sector continues to lag the nation’s population growth,” Quartus Economics stated.

While agriculture overall recorded slow gains, the report showed that crop production weakened under President Bola Tinubu’s government, which took office on May 29, 2023.

A subsector breakdown indicated that crop production growth dropped from an annual average of 3.75% between 2020 and 2023 to just 2.9% in 2024.

“The industry added an average of around ₦1.61 trillion annually between 2020 and 2023. In 2024, however, this figure dropped to ₦1.2 trillion in growth,” the report noted.

Altogether, the crop subsector added ₦6.44 trillion to GDP over the past five years, continuing to dominate agricultural output.

The fishing industry contributed little to sectoral growth. Between 2020 and 2023, the subsector expanded by only 3.1%, adding ₦75.5 billion to gross production.

By 2024, however, it fell into decline, contracting by 1%, representing a ₦15.1 billion loss in real (inflation-adjusted) terms.

Similarly, livestock output, which had risen by ₦450 billion between 2020 and 2023, lost momentum in 2024. The subsector suffered a 2.1% decline, with a ₦261.5 billion GDP loss in just one year.

Source: Independence News