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  • These 7 wonderful CROPS will put Nigeria’s economy back on the track

    Feb 11th, 2017

    <p>Many factors have been adduced for food insecurity in third world countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa. Most of these determinants are hinged on natural and artificial logic at the expense of individuals&rsquo; failure of contributing to food security drive of world&rsquo;s leaders which requires investments in wide-ranging food and cash crops.</p> <p>planting</p> <p><strong>A Nigerian working on a cashew farm</strong></p> <p>There is no gainsaying that food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food whereas food insecurity signifies people&rsquo;s inability to have access to sustainable foods. This is often pronounced among the people at the bottom of the pyramid, they have been regarded as the most vulnerable to food insecurity in Nigeria and other African countries.Despite having a significant number of agrarian lands, Nigeria and her counterparts on the continent have been estimated to produce enough food for only about a quarter populations by 2025 if the current growth rate continue.</p> <p>In its recent propositions on agriculture in Africa, Food and Agriculture Organisation considers one penny spending in agriculture as one of the means and the most effective strategies for poverty reduction, vanishing of hunger and food sustainability promotion.According to National Bureau of Statistics, over 141 million and 101 million Nigerians in northern and southern regions still lack sufficient food for living a healthy life, based on 2010&rsquo;s estimates. Considering the availability of estimated 71 million hectares of cultivable land, Nigerians are not expected to remain food poor. Between 2004 and 2006, Nigeria was able to rake in $36 million in food production value.</p> <p>Since 2006 appropriate policies and implementation of the existing ones have not resulted into food sufficiency across the country. Nigeria still faces acute shortage of staple crops due to overdependence of food imports like rice, wheat, dairy, fish and fresh fruits which gross about $22billion annually, according to Federal Ministry of Agriculture&rsquo;s roadmap to revamp the sector.The growth in production of most crops is declining every year. International agencies&rsquo; statistics and our analysis show that 952, 385 metric tons of cashew was produced in 2016. In the same year, Nigerian farmers were able to produce palm oil (1, 401,852) cocoa (323,429), sugarcane (1,488,618), soya beans (543, 363), cotton (278, 313), beans (3.6m), groundnut (3.5m), guinea corn (7.1m) and millet (1.5m) metric tonnes.Our projected increase for the production of each crop indicates that cashew will grow to 982,861 in 2017 while palm oil, cocoa, soya beans, sugarcane, cotton, beans, groundnut, guinea corn and millet will increase to (1, 428, 487), (320, 195), (506, 958), (1, 525, 833), (272, 468), (3.7m), groundnut (3.5m), guinea corn (7.3m) millet (1.6m) metric tonnes.</p> <p>1. Cashew</p> <p>This crop is mainly cultivated in Kogi, Kwara, Oyo, Niger, Imo, Enugu, Abia, Kaduna and Federal Capital Territory. Nigerian farmers only sell raw cashew nuts and kernel despite 99 by-products derivable from the crop.In its early years in the 60s, Vietnam, Benin Republic and India were the primary export destination for Nigeria raw cashew. Current estimates indicate that 40% of the raw nuts produced in Nigeria are being bought by Vietnam.</p> <p>Recently, United Kingdom, USA, Sweden, Netherland, Poland, and Germany have joined countries that demand the country&rsquo;s raw nuts the most. People from different geographies and ethnic groups are demanding for the raw nuts for making numerous nutritious foods because of its high-fat content. Many traditional foods such as bread, corn flakes, chocolate, salads and bakery products, are now enriched with nuts.</p> <p><strong>Rest Other Crops</strong></p> <p><strong>Palm Oil,Cocoa,Sugarcane,Soybeans,Rice, Beans and groundnut Millet</strong></p>


    Source: https://www.legit.ng/
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