Nigeria’s agriculture sector growth remained positive through 2020 but at a considerably slower pace. Despite increased government attention, growth remained at a low-single-digit level. Compared to a 5-year average growth rate of 3.0%, the sector grew by 2.2% in Q1-20.

However, the coronavirus pandemic’s emergence and the ensuing restrictions dragged growth in Q2-2020 as the crop production sub-sector (over 85.0% of the sector) slowed to 1.4%. In Q3-2020 (+1.4%), sector growth was further tapered as flooding, and low harvest yields impeded output growth.

That said, we still highlight the long-term growth potential of investing in the sector, given Nigeria’s, around 60% unutilized arable land, weak mechanization rate and low fertilizer penetration.

Source: Proshare