“By 2030, the food market will grow to be a $1 trillion industry. Nigeria will need to intensify its investments in improving agriculture yields and integrating the value chain over the next decade in order to capture a significant share of this market.”
- World Bank.
In the 1960s, Nigeria was the leading producer of palm oil and second largest producer of cocoa in the world.
Nigeria provided 18% of the global production of cocoa, today, that figure is now down to 8%.
Nigeria now spends up to $22b in food imports annually.
It is estimated that Nigeria has lost $10b in annual export opportunity from groundnut, palm oil, cocoa and cotton alone due to the continuous decline in the production of these commodities.
When Nigeria discovered oil and became too dependent on its resources as the economic driver of growth, foriegn exchange and development, the agriculture sector was neglected and this resulted to an immense decrease in farming investments and agri-exportation. As a result, Nigeria transitioned from being self-sufficient in food to becoming a net importer, spending up to $22b annually on food imports.
According to a report by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), while value addition is slowly growing, it remains insubstantial in many parts, as the continents food import bill is set to rise threefold by 2025 to $110b. A major contributor to this factor is the lack of policies to develop and fund agro-allied industries that process and add value before exportation. To scale, the continent will require both private and public substantial investments across the entire value chain over the next decade.
Value adding processing is one of the core values of Farmforte, and this has driven us to contribute towards changing the narrative by taking steps to play a pivotal role in the Agric-value chain development in Nigeria. We grow and source food produce which are then processed and packaged into world-class products that are sold locally and across the globe, thereby raising income for smallholder farmers, improving foreign exchange and providing employment in order to promote economic growth.
At Farmforte, our passion is creating wealth in Nigeria through sustainable solutions in agriculture and innovative mechanisms. To achieve this, we continue to identify and implement agri-solutions in order to bring about economic acceleration. We believe that improvement in agriculture is fundamental to improving the economy, achieving food security, tackling poverty, and promoting overall sustainable development.
Farmforte is not just about agriculture, we are about solving problems and creating wealth.
