Generally, Agriculture is seen as the cultivation of land for the idea to produce food for man, feed for animal and then those of fibre or raw material for industrial corporations. This also caters to processing and marketing of crops. It embodies the general controlled production of plant and animals, covering fishing, forestry, farming, livestock, poultry and small-scale firms linked with the processing of agricultural products.
This basically means that the agricultural sector is a very significant sector of the country’s economy and thus must be well funded and controlled to meet its distinct goals of eradicating poverty and hunger in the nation, Africa and the world as a whole.
Agribusiness in Nigeria will help sustain the economy and also increase the wealth of all, with a dramatic increase in GDP. This sector holds the foundation of Nigeria economy regardless of concentrated effort in industrialization.
The sector occupies the prime position as the source of means of support for over 73% of the population. It is indeed seen as the pre-requisite to economic development.
Whilst all of the benefits are obvious, underfunding has been a major issue, thus frustrating growth and development.
To raise more avenues for financing agribusiness in Nigeria and overseas means better growth potentials in this sector and Nigeria at large. Below are some such ways:
- The Bank
- Nigeria Agricultural Bank (NAB) established in 1976, provides loans to small and medium scale farmers.
- Foreign Direct Investment
- Government grants and programs
- Amongst several others
The sector offers employment to about 71% of the active population in the nation!
