The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, yesterday disclosed that Nigeria spends $10 billion annually on agro-imports.
This is even as he said Nigeria earns less than $400 million from agro exports. Speaking on Tuesday at the FirstBank of Nigeria’s 2025 Agric and Export Expo in Lagos, Kyari said the imports include food such as wheat, rice, sugar, fish and tomato paste.
The Minister who was represented by his Special Adviser, Ibrahim Alkali, expressed worry over the rising rate of agro-imports, and stressed the need for more financing of agro activities to boost local exports.
“Nigeria spends over $10 billion annually importing food such as wheat, rice, sugar, fish and even tomato paste.
“Agriculture already contributes 35 percent of our gross domestic product and employs 35 per cent of our workforce.
“We sit on 85 million hectares of urban land with a youth population of over 70 percent under the age of 30, yet Nigeria accounts for less than 0.5 percent of global exports.”
