Nigeria has been pronounced as the leading African country in the importation of food items, News About Nigeria reports.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Senior Project Manager at Fairtrade, one of the leading organisations in food production in the country, Freyja Detjen.
Detjen noted that Nigeria has gone on to become Africa’s second-largest investor in food production, with investments in food and packaging technology amounting to €363 million in 2022, trailing only South Africa with €381 million and leading Egypt with €319 million.
She further stated that Nigeria’s food production has witnessed a remarkable surge of 39.6 percent in recent years, from €26 billion in 2016 to €36.3 billion in 2020, and is projected to rise by 48 percent between 2021 and 2024, from €42.3 billion to €62.6 billion, adding that it is more than any other African country is projected to make.
She also stated that this increase in the importation of food items is happening despite the significant investments in local food production, noting that Nigeria’s food imports totaled US$6.9 billion in 2022, positioning the nation as one of Africa’s foremost food importers.
“With €143 million in 2022, Nigeria emerges as the second-largest investor in plastics technology in Africa, showcasing an annual growth rate of 17.6 percent between 2016 and 2022,” she said.
She, however, noted that despite the contribution of agriculture to the economy, Nigeria’s agricultural sector faces many challenges that impact its productivity, noting some of the challenges as poor land tenure systems, low levels of irrigation farming, climate change and land degradation, low technology, high production costs, and poor distribution of inputs, among others.
