The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, says the sector topped the chart in a survey report by the National Bureau of Statistics.
This is contained in a statement issued by Anthonia Eremah, Assistant Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Friday in Abuja.
Eremah said the minister said this at the 45th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development (NCARD) in Plateau State.
The theme of the meeting is ” Strengthening Agricultural Value Chain Development Process For Food Security and Economic Development”.
Abubakar said that out of seven sectors identified to have contributed to the Nigeria’s economy in the second quarter of 2022, agriculture out-performed six other sectors.
He said these sectors comprised of Trade Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Real Estate as well as Finance & Insurance.
The Minister said that agriculture alone contributed 23.3 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Half Year 2022).
He said this supported the positive trend of the previous years’ performance of 25.88 per cent (2021). 26.21 (2020), 25.16 per cent 2019), 25.13 per cent (2018), 25.08 per cent (2017), 24.45 per cent (2016) and 23.11 per cent 2015).
Abubakar said that the data reflected the impact of the implementation of programmes and projects in the agricultural sector in spite of the security challenges in the country.
“Agriculture has been consistently prioritised by successive Administrations toward ensuring food security and attaining national development plans,” he said.
He said the ministry was able to set up a fact finding mission to investigate the scourge of the Potato Blight disease that has ravaged some farms in Plateau with a view to finding a solution to the problem.
The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mustapha Shehuri commended the Governor of Plateau, Simon Lalong, for the provision of conducive venue for the meeting and provision of necessary security arrangements.
He said that the intensification of effort on commodity value chain development process as reflected in the theme was out of the desire to grow agriculture, and diversify the economy.
” Also, to ensure food security and empower the citizenry through public-private-partnership,” he said.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Sen. Bima Enegi, commended Abubakar for his initiatives toward diversifying the nation’ s economy through the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP).
