The curious case of how Netherlands’ agricultural productivity trumps Nigeria’s

Despite Nigeria’s vast agricultural resources (about 70.8 million hectares of arable land), favourable climatic conditions, a youthful and growing population, and a large market that attracts investors, hunger and poverty remain a persistent issue.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) one in every ten Nigerians faces hunger, and nearly 60 percent live in some form of multidimensional poverty. Interestingly, Nigeria has about 70 times more arable land than the Netherlands, yet the full potential of these resources remains untapped. The chart below represents the arable lands in millions of hectares that are available in Nigeria and the Netherlands.

The Netherlands, a country 22 times smaller than Nigeria in terms of land mass, 12 times less in population compared to Nigeria with approximately one million (1003000) hectares of arable land is known for its global dominance in agricultural exports. It is in fact the second largest exporter of agricultural products just after the United States.

According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS) this little island (Netherlands) generated about €50.4 billion (approximately ₦18 trillion ) from agricultural exports in 2023.

Nigeria on the other hand toggles between ₦1.23 trillion in 2023 and about ₦1.04 trillion in the second quarter of 2024 as seen in the chart below.

Nigeria’s Situation and Challenges

The NBS records that Nigeria’s agricultural sector is one of the major contributors of the nation’s GDP, however it has suffered a decline after the COVID-19 pandemic from 25.88% GDP in 2021 to 22.61% in the second quarter of 2024 as shown in the figure below.

Also, about 41% (30 million hectares) of Nigeria’s arable land are not in use by farmers, according to the minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security who made it known during the 2024 World Food Day ministerial briefing in Abuja. Other issues such as insecurity, poor access to agricultural aids, grants, Hi-Tech implements, high cost of seeds and labour, poor yield, poor storage facilities, lack of access to infrastructural amenities, poverty, fluctuating rainfall, drought, flood, inflation and a host of others contribute to reducing Nigeria’s agricultural productivity. Agriculture employs about 30.1% (25 million) Nigerians and about 70% – 80% of these farmers are still at the subsistence level. More importantly, the low level of irrigation farming, poor distribution of farm inputs, high production cost and high post-harvest losses results in low agricultural productivity which further impacts the nation’s economy directly according to the Food and Agriculture Organization in 2023.

Netherlands’ Success Stories: What Lessons can be learnt by Nigeria?

Hypothetically, if Nigeria were to reduce its debt by 50% (approximately ₦66.5 trillion naira) over the next 10 years through agricultural productivity, it would be an ambitious yet possible goal. With the current agricultural revenue of ₦1.23 trillion naira and an arable land area of 70.8 million hectares, Nigeria’s average revenue per hectare stands at about ₦16,849 naira. This is significantly lower than the Netherlands’ ₦17,954,487 naira per hectare. While the gap is large, success is still within reach. By adopting and adapting to effective and efficient agricultural strategies similar to those used in the Netherlands, particularly in areas such as advanced farming techniques, technological integration, and efficient resource management, Nigeria could unlock its full agricultural potential and make meaningful strides toward economic transformation. Some of the strategies used by the Netherlands agricultural sector to boost productivity include;

Precision Farming:The use of technology to test soil quality before planting helps to determine the best possible crop to grow on a particular piece of land. Nigeria’s subsistence farmers lack access to hi-tech agricultural tools. It rather focuses on farmer training and distribution of fertilisers and seeds by extension workers via Agricultural development transformation programmes.
Digitalization and Innovation : In the Netherlands, the use of artificial intelligence, drones, satellites, sensors, and data analysis has revolutionised its agricultural sector through farm monitoring, crop predictions, and weather forecasting, leading to significant improvements in crop yield. These technologies provide farmers with valuable insights to boost productivity. However, the high cost of such tools poses a great challenge to Nigeria’s agricultural sector, as the majority of subsistence farmers (70% – 80%) may struggle to afford them, potentially hindering overall productivity.
Storage and Infrastructural Facilities: In 2023, Nigeria generated an impressive ₦1.23 trillion naira from agricultural exports, but this is only about 75% of what could have been achieved. A significant portion of about 25% post harvest losses was reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization in 2023. These losses could be prevented with better infrastructure, like improved roads and proper storage facilities, such as barns and cold rooms for perishables. With the right investments, we could unlock even more value from our harvests.
Circular Agriculture:Recycling organic wastes for bioenergy and composting promotes nutrient recycling.
Greenhouse / Vertical farming : In the bid to conserve space and overcome fluctuating weather conditions the Netherlands engage in this strategy to maintain high agricultural productivity. Building controlled environments for growing crops makes it easy to manage large farms and improve crop yield per hectare.
Explore other Agricultural products: According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, Agriculture remains the foundation of Nigeria’s economy. Aside from the exports of crops such as Cocoa, Cashew nuts, Oil Palm Fruits, Sesame seeds, ginger among others, It has become a necessity for Nigeria to explore other agricultural products of high demands and value as global demands change per time. Like the Netherlands, Nigeria should explore other agricultural resources such as Vegetables (Tomatoes, Pepper, Onions, Cucumber), Ornamental Plants (Tulips, and Roses), Dairy (Milk and Cheese) agricultural by-products such as Animal manure.

Conclusion

In summary, Nigeria would drastically improve agricultural productivity by expanding and using all of its arable lands, Infrastructural improvements, increased crop yield per hectare, revenue per hectare and extensive data analytics to monitor crop yield annually at grass roots level.

With the right strategies, Nigeria could set new records for itself globally.