Cocoa House in Ibadan, the cocoa marketing center
Courtesy Embassy of Nigeria, Washington

Spraying cacao plants cocoa is a major export
Courtesy Embassy of Nigeria, Washington

As economic development occurs, the relative size of the agricultural sector usually decreases. Accordingly, Nigerian GDP originating in the agricultural sector shrank from 65.7 percent in FY 1959 to 30.9 percent by 1976. The overall economic decline reversed this trend, and by 1988, 39.1 percent of GDP was derived from agricultural activity (see table 9, Appendix).

The contribution of the agricultural sector increased 3.8 percent yearly between 1983 and 1988, and the percentage of export value in agriculture grew from 3 percent in 1983 to 9 percent in 1988, although much of this growth resulted from the fall in oil export receipts (see table 10, Appendix). Food production also increased rapidly during the 1980s, especially after exchange-rate reform restricted food imports in 1986.

Data as of June 1991