10 agricultural raw materials and their finished products in Nigeria
Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in Nigeria today. The sector employs a whopping 35% of the Nigerian population. The sector is divided into four subsectors: forestry, livestock farming, fishing, and crop production. The latter is the largest subsector, accounting for more than 85% of the agricultural sector’s total output. Numerous agro-based industries in Nigeria rely on agriculture either directly or indirectly. We will look at the top 10 agricultural raw materials and their finished products in Nigeria.
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The produce from farms, forests, cattle farms, and fishponds is regarded as raw material. It's with these materials that numerous agro-allied industries in Nigeria operate.
The top 10 agricultural raw materials and their finished products in Nigeria
Here is a list of raw materials and their finished products in Nigeria today.
1. Cereals: Flour, breakfast cereal, and seed oil
Source: UGC
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The cereals sector in Nigeria is quite extensive, accounting for more than 60% of all crops farmed. The major cereals farmed in the country include millet, rice, wheat, maize, and sorghum. Most of these are cultivated in the country’s extensive savanna regions.
Most of the cereals cultivated are consumed locally, while others are purchased by flour millers to be processed into various flour and flour products. Others are made into popular breakfast cereal brands, while others make their way into oil processing factories to be turned into seed oils.
2. Cotton: Textile products
Cotton is widely cultivated in various Nigerian states. These include Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Ogun, and Jigawa. The country’s annual cotton production currently averages 51,000 metric tons, with an average yield of about 200 kilograms per hectare.
The harvested cotton is taken to ginneries, where it is processed before being turned into numerous pure cotton and blended fabrics.
3. Fruits: Juice, fruit extracts
Nigeria’s climate makes it ideal for fruit farming. Some of the major fruits cultivated in the country include pawpaw, tamarinds, pineapples, bananas, mangoes, and guavas. Fruit and vegetable farming provides more employment opportunities than other staple-based agricultural enterprises.
Most of the fruits are sold in local Nigerian markets for household consumption. Others are purchased by food processing companies to produce fruit juices and fruit extracts to be used in other industries.
4. Gum tree: Chewing gum, essential oils, food additive, and adhesives
Source: UGC
Gum trees are predominantly cultivated in Nigeria’s northern areas. The produce from the gum trees is used in numerous industries, the most common being the production of beer clouding agents, food stabilizers, emulsifiers, and chewing gum.
5. Oil palm: Palm oil, food additives, mats, and baskets
There can never be a list of agricultural raw materials and their finished products in Nigeria without mentioning oil palm. This is because palm oil, which comes from oil palm, is of strategic business importance in Nigeria. In the early 1960s, Nigeria was the largest palm oil producer in the world. While things have gotten worse on that front, the plant is still incredibly important.
Oil palms are cultivated by several million small-scale farmers, spread over an estimated area of 2.1 million hectares. This is about 83% of the total production area. The oil palm tree is at the centre of numerous industries, including those that make edible oil, food additives, baskets, and mats.
6. Rubber: Rubber products, including tires, rubber mattresses, and shoes
Natural rubber was first cultivated in Nigeria in 1906. Today, the country produces more than 50,000 tons of natural rubber each year. Rubber trees are widely cultivated in Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Abia, Ogun, and Delta states.
The produce from rubber trees is used in the rubber industry to manufacture tires, rubber mattresses, and shoes.
7. Cacao tree (cocoa beans): Cocoa butter, chocolate
Source: UGC
Nigeria recently launched a handbook to help cacao farmers increase their productivity. This is to fulfil the country’s dreams of surpassing Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana and becoming Africa’s top cacao producer.
Cocoa, derived from the cacao tree, is Nigeria’s second-highest income earner, behind crude oil. In addition, cocoa beans are widely used in the beverage industry to make cocoa-based powders, the confectionery industry, and the cosmetics industry.
8. Sugarcane: Sugar, syrup, and molasses
Sugarcane is grown in numerous Nigerian states on a small scale. Commercial cultivation is done in Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, Jigawa, Adamawa, Kano, and Katsina states. When harvested, sugarcane is used by the sugar processing industry to make sugar, various syrups, and molasses.
While Nigeria is home to Africa’s largest sugar refining plant, it still has a sugarcane deficit and imports much of what is needed from Brazil.
9. Tobacco: Cigarettes, cigars, and shisha tobacco
Tobacco is widely grown in Sokoto, Kwara, Oyo, and Osun states. The plant’s leaves are the main raw material used to make snuff, cigarettes, cigars, shisha tobacco, and pipe tobacco. At times, the dried leaves are aged for more than 2 years to get rid of the bitterness.
10. Trees: Paper, furniture, and medicines
Source: UGC
Nigeria has a vibrant tree-growing sector, especially in states that receive rainfall throughout much of the year. Trees are widely used as raw materials for the furniture industry, the paper industry, and the traditional and modern medicine industries.
10 agro-allied industries and their raw materials
Here is a list of 10 agro-based industries and their raw materials.
- Milling industry: Uses cereals to make various flours, flour products and seed oils.
- Textile industry: Uses cotton to make fabrics.
- Additives and confectionery industries: Use fruits to make fruit juice and fruit extracts
- Food processing industry: Uses gum trees to make chewing gum, essential oils, and adhesives.
- Edible oil industry: Uses oil palm to make palm oil, stabilizers, and other oil products
- Beverage and cosmetic industries: Use the cacao tree (cocoa beans) to make cocoa butter, drinking chocolate, and cocoa extracts
- Rubber industry: Uses rubber tree products to manufacture tires, rubber mattresses, and shoes
- Sugar industry: Uses sugarcane to make sugar, syrup, and molasses
- Cigarette industry: Uses tobacco leaves to make cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and shisha
- Paper industry: Uses trees pulp to make printing, paper, packaging paper, and tissue rolls
What is Nigeria’s staple food?
The most popular food in Nigeria is fufu. It is a starchy dish that might include cassava, yams, or plantains that have been boiled, pounded, and rounded into balls.
Which are the most common crops on Nigerian farms?
The major staple crops in Nigeria are cassava, yam, maize, sorghum, rice, and millet. Together, these crops cover more than 65% of the total cultivated land in the country.
Have you been wondering what the Nigerian top 10 agricultural raw materials and their finished products are? This guide has all your answers. These crops are essential to Nigeria’s economy and are used as raw materials in numerous industries.
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Jackline Wangare (Lifestyle writer) Jackline Simwa is a content writer at Legit.ng, where she has worked since mid-2021. She tackles diverse topics, including finance, entertainment, sports, and lifestyle. Previously, she worked at The Campanile by Kenyatta University. She has more than five years in writing. Jackline graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (2019) and a Diploma in Marketing (2015) from Kenyatta University. In 2023, Jackline finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques and Google News Initiative course in 2024. Email: simwajackie2022@gmail.com.
Adrianna Simwa (Lifestyle writer) Adrianna Simwa is a content writer at Legit.ng where she has worked since mid-2022. She has written for many periodicals on a variety of subjects, including news, celebrities, and lifestyle, for more than three years. She has worked for The Hoth, The Standard Group and Triple P Media. Adrianna graduated from Nairobi University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in 2020. In 2023, Simwa finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. You can reach her through her email: adriannasimwa@gmail.com
