No abstract

Until the 1960s, Nigeria exported many types of agricultural products: peanuts, peanut butter, cocoa beans, rubber, palm oil. The main cash crop was cocoa. However, as a result of neglecting the agricultural sector and focusing on the oil sector, Nigeria has turned from an exporter of agricultural products into a major food importer. The country continues to export cocoa, oil seeds and fruits, tobacco, animal skins, fruits and nuts, and agricultural products have been occupying the second place in export earnings after petroleum products throughout the years. However, the share of these goods in the total exports is insignificant. The successive Nigerian governments tried to launch their own programs for the development of agricultural production, the implementation of which would diversify exports. Over the past 50 years, this objective has not been met: 96% of export revenues still come from the sale of petroleum products. The author of the paper makes an attempt to identify factors that impede the stable development of the production of agricultural products for export. The identification of these factors should allow us to understand why the country has failed to diversify its export revenues by increasing the share of agricultural goods intended for export.

In Nigeria, the decline in the efficiency of the cocoa industry in particular and of agricultural production in general began after the country gained independence. At that time, oil was discovered, and that stole the attention of the government in terms of financing. Over time, the country’s budget has become highly dependent on fluctuations in prices for petroleum products, and there emerged a critical need to diversify state revenues. Nigeria’s successive governments over the past 60 years have made repeated attempts to revive agriculture as an alternative to the oil sector, but all of them have proven unsuccessful. The author believes that the recovery of the cocoa sector can become the most important vector for strengthening the country’s food security. Increased foreign exchange earnings from the export of cocoa products will enable Nigeria to purchase more food to meet the needs of the population. The author considers the lack of qualified management and competent agricultural policy in the country as the reason for the degradation of the cocoa industry and puts forward a roadmap for the development of the sector in Nigeria, which takes into account its current problems and may return the industry to the path of sustainable growth.

No abstract

The challenge of ensuring food security, which concerns not only the availability of food products but also their nutritional quality, is particularly important for modern Nigeria. The diet of the population lacks sufficient animal protein, which entails many health problems. Nigeria’s livestock sector, despite its considerable size, is not able to satisfy the demand of the rapidly growing population for animal protein. The steady development of animal husbandry in Nigeria is hindered by the escalating conflict between farmers and pastoralists, which causes loss of life, destruction of crops and livestock. The Nigerian authorities have made repeated attempts to find a solution to resolve the conflict, one of them being the decision to establish livestock ranches that would limit the grazing area and thereby eliminate the main cause of the tensions – constant migrations of livestock, but to no avail. Modern laws do not take into account many of the nuances that make attempts to organize livestock farming in fenced areas unfeasible. However, keeping farm animals on ranches is an innovative way to develop livestock in Nigeria. The author believes that Nigerian laws regulating the livestock sector require significant modification, where special attention should be paid to innovative components.