There is a call for change, Ken Aghoghovbia, the Deputy Managing Director of the African Reinsurance Corporation, laid bare the enormous truth at the heart of Nigeria’s agricultural landscape.
At the Africa Reinsurance Corporation Agriculture Workshop in Lagos, he unveiled a startling revelation: Nigeria currently depends on $10 billion worth of imports to bridge the chasm in its food and agricultural production.
Gathering under the auspices of the International Finance Corporation Technical assistance provider mandate for the Nigeria Climate Insurance project, this two-day event brought together a constellation of luminaries from the Nigerian agriculture insurance realm.
Its mission: is to forge a collaborative haven for key industry players, uniting insurers, government agencies, farmers’ advocates, insurance regulators, financial institutions, input suppliers, and commercial farming giants.
In his opening address, Aghoghovbia eloquently spotlighted the plight of Nigeria’s agricultural sector. It has weathered a tempest of challenges, from the ravages of floods to the creeping encroachment of deserts on once-fertile croplands and grazing pastures.
The sector remains ensnared in the web of conflicts between herdsmen and local farmers, hampered by the scarcity of financial resources, and hobbled by the underutilization of modern technology.
These adversities, Aghoghovbia asserted, have strangled the sector’s productivity, creating a gaping void between local food production and the voracious demand.
The immense reality emerges: Nigeria leans on $10 billion worth of imports to bridge its food and agricultural production shortfalls.
Agriculture Insurance, Aghoghovbia passionately contended, offers a beacon of hope for the revival of Nigeria’s agriculture sector.
In the past five years, it has witnessed a surge of interest from the country’s insurance market players, lured by the prospects tied to the imperative of commercializing and modernizing agricultural production, in sync with the government’s quest to diversify the economy.
With a sprawling expanse of approximately 70 million hectares of agricultural land and a diverse array of agricultural enterprises, Nigeria’s Agriculture Insurance market harbors the potential to unfurl a premium windfall, potentially exceeding $600 million.
Ultimately, in this revelation lies a transformative opportunity to maintain the fortunes of Nigeria’s agriculture sector, breathing life into a sector vital to the nation’s well-being and growth.
