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Agriculture was the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy upon which the country’s nationalists founded their agitation for independence.
Prior to this, Nigeria was a leading agricultural economy in the 50s, being the largest producer of palm oil, groundnut, cotton and cocoa globally.
The sector employed over 70 per cent of the labour force, accounted for as much as 62.3 per cent of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.
Data obtained from the World Bank show that the sector contributed over 60 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
However, the discovery of crude oil in the 1950s progressively led to the neglect of the sector, which has made Nigeria to fall in the global market rankings for which it was taking the lead.