Agric turnover hits N101.46tn on investment boost

Nigeria’s agriculture sector recorded a total turnover of N101.46 trillion in 2025, up from N96.46 trillion in 2024, as real annual growth accelerated to 2.92 per cent from 1.69 per cent, according to full-year Gross Domestic Product data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The figures show a 5.18 per cent year-on-year increase in the sector’s nominal contribution to GDP, reflecting improved investment activity and policy-driven market interventions. Agriculture contributed 27.55 per cent to aggregate GDP in 2025, reaffirming its position as a cornerstone of the national economy.

A breakdown of the sector’s performance indicates that crop production remained dominant, generating N64.41 trillion in 2025, compared to N61.92 trillion in 2024. Livestock contributed N25.66 trillion, forestry N6.47 trillion, and fishing N4.92 trillion, bringing total sector turnover to N101.46 trillion.

Real growth strengthened in the fourth quarter of 2025, rising to 4.00 per cent year-on-year, compared to 2.54 per cent in the corresponding period of 2024.

Industry stakeholders attributed the improved performance largely to private sector investments in processing, palm plantations, cocoa production, and agro-processing. Chairman of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Agriculture and Allied Group, Tunde Banjoko, noted that renewed investor confidence and importation waivers contributed to sectoral expansion, though he cautioned that some import policies negatively affected local farmers by depressing domestic prices.

Similarly, Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, observed that while food import measures helped moderate food inflation, they also triggered price collapses in staples such as rice, maize, and soybeans, leading to income losses for farmers and potential long-term risks to production incentives.

Both analysts stressed the need for policy recalibration to balance consumer affordability with farmer income protection and sustained agricultural investment.
Source: PUNCH NG

EXPERT REVIEW FOR AGRI-FOOD STAKEHOLDERS
Nigeria’s 2025 agricultural performance underscores both resilience and structural tension within the food system. Growth is evident, but policy coherence will determine sustainability.

1. Agriculture remains Nigeria’s economic stabiliser.
   With a 27.55 per cent contribution to GDP and turnover exceeding N100 trillion, the sector continues to anchor employment, rural livelihoods, and non-oil economic activity. This scale reinforces agriculture’s centrality to macroeconomic stability.
2. Private capital is driving expansion more than public spending.
   Investments in processing, plantations, and value addition suggest that agribusiness confidence improved in 2025. However, sustaining this momentum will depend on predictable trade and pricing policies.
3. Import waivers delivered inflation relief but disrupted producer incentives.
   While food imports moderated prices for consumers and processors, they also triggered farmgate price collapses for key staples. Such volatility weakens farmer income stability and may reduce planting decisions in subsequent seasons.
4. Price stabilisation mechanisms are becoming urgent policy tools.
   Calls for guaranteed benchmark pricing or a Farm Price Stabilisation Framework reflect the need for structured market governance. Without predictable pricing signals, both farmers and investors face heightened risk exposure.
5. Value chain balance must guide future reforms.
   Policy design must align trade, finance, and production strategies. Protecting farmers while ensuring affordable food requires coordinated instruments such as targeted import windows, buffer stock systems, structured commodity exchanges, and accessible input financing.

Conclusion
Nigeria’s agriculture sector demonstrated measurable growth in 2025, but sustaining this trajectory will require careful balancing of food affordability and farmer profitability. For farmers, agribusiness investors, and policymakers, long-term food security depends not only on output growth but on stable incentives, coordinated trade policy, and resilient value chains.