Dysfunctional Foreign Exchange In Nigeria Is Seriously Affecting Agriculture And Other Sectors
The Nigerian government is greatly concerned about the effects that a dysfunctional foreign exchange can have on its agricultural sector as well as others. Since the agricultural sector requires the bulk of imports in both its machinery and its inputs, it is seeing the most consequences of a dysfunctional system.
Government officials have also come out to say that a poor irrigation system is a failure of the government. By not offering their farmers a better irrigation system, many farmers often have to wait for the rainy season, which causes delays in crops.
Nigeria has been one of the biggest agricultural importers in the world, especially when it comes to its machinery. Without the proper machinery, they will always be unable to meet the demands of the market.
Why irrigation systems remain inaccessible to most farmers
Irrigation is a major challenge for most farmers in the south, as many have to wait for the monsoon season to start farming. This larger discrepancy means that the demands for crops will not be met.
A major reason, and often the only reason why many farmers do not have irrigation systems throughout a large part of the country is that they are expensive. Not only are these systems expensive to install, but they can also be very pricey to maintain.
This price tag makes it very difficult for many farmers to actually set up proper irrigation systems. Therefore, one of the solutions to this issue is that the government should be providing farmers with these dedicated irrigation systems.
How the Foreign Exchange plays a part in agriculture
The foreign exchange often plays a very direct role in affecting agriculture, since this sector of the economy relies a great deal on imports. According to various government officials, the current state of the foreign exchange market is too dysfunctional to allow the agricultural sector to grow and improve.
Since the country relies a great deal on its imports, it needs a good foreign exchange system to allow the sector to improve. By relying too much on foreign exchange, the country needs to improve on its system to see a better return on its different sectors.
They will likely need to bring in more foreign investors, which can help them invest in better irrigation systems.
Improving their foreign exchange policies to improve foreign exchange
One of the many solutions that some have suggested includes improving their foreign exchange policy to bring in more investors.
As it currently stands, many government officials believe that the current foreign exchange policies that they have developed are turning away various investors. So by improving their various policies, they could better fund their various sectors.