By the time the first rays of sunlight reach Nigeria’s farms, millions of dollars are already on the move.
In Kogi, trucks loaded with cassava head for processing plants. In Ondo and Cross River, cocoa beans begin their journey to ports. Sesame from Jigawa is bagged for buyers in Japan and Turkey. Hibiscus harvested in Kano and Borno is dried for export to Mexico and Europe. Cashew nuts from Kwara and Kogi leave for Vietnam, where factories will do what Nigeria largely does not: turn them into premium consumer products.
The crops are Nigerian. The value often is not.
For decades, Nigeria has measured agricultural success in hectares cultivated and tonnes harvested. It celebrates bumper harvests while importing starch, chocolate, pharmaceutical ingredients, cooking oils, flavourings and industrial chemicals made from the very crops it exports.
The result is a paradox. Nigeria is one of Africa’s agricultural giants, yet much of
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