Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said the size of agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has risen from N14 trillion in 2011 to N46.6 trillion (about $245bn) as of 2014.
Receiving an award as the “Newswatch Man of the Year 2014 in Project Management and Revenue Generation” on Thursday in Abuja, Adesina said that the figure surpassed the total agricultural GDP for the 8-year period of 2000—2008 which was N42 trillion.
Quoting from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports, he said: “The agriculture GDP of Nigeria rose from N 14 trillion in 2011, to N 15.8 trillion by 2012 and 16.8 trillion by 2013.
“The total agricultural GDP in just three years of 2011-2014 was N 46.6 trillion, surpassing the total cumulative GDP for the 8-year period of 2000-2008 of N 42 trillion.”
As part of achievements in the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) in the last three years, the minister said over 3.5 million farm jobs have been created across the agricultural value chains, spurring a revival of rural economies, especially for millions of youths and reducing rural-to-urban migration.
“The agriculture sector has brought macroeconomic and fiscal stability for the country, despite the depreciation of the Naira and steep decline in the price of crude oil, food prices have been largely stable,” he said.
Adesina also said the production of maize has recorded tremendous success as 14 million metric tonnes of maize were produced in the last three years of the implementation of ATA.
Source: starafrica.com
