7 Reasons Why The Agriculture Sector Is Important

Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating crops, and rearing animals for man’s use and industrial purposes plays an important role in the quest to curb food insecurity and plays a crucial role in the nation’s economy considering its importance to both the developed and developing countries.

7 Reasons Why The Agriculture Sector Is Important

There are different importance of agriculture and we will be examining about eight (8) of them. They include;

1. Provision of food
2. Provision of shelter
3. Provision of clothes
4. Provision of income
5. Provision of job opportunities v Provision of medicine
6. Provision of raw-materials
7. Provision of foreign exchange.

Provision of Food

Food happens to be a necessity for everyone and it doesn’t go out of fashion and with the increasing population, you’d see that there are lots of mouths to be fed. Before the pandemic, about 70 million Africans were under-nourished and during the pandemic, the number got up to 120 million and this statistic shows the importance of food for everyone. Agriculture has made it a point of duty to play the role of supplying food to many households and has indeed played a crucial role in providing the food that we eat, ranging from beef, and dairy products like the milk we drink which is gotten from livestock, as well as other food crops such as fruits and vegetables, grains such as the rice, corn, wheat, etc.

Provision of Shelter

A roof over our heads is considered very important in our world and about 150 million people around the world are homeless. The agricultural sector has played a very key role in providing shelter for man to protect us from different environmental elements that may be harmful to us. Forests and trees are major sources of shelter for man as the timbers, and plywood gotten from the forests are used to make furniture, the walls of many houses, floors, mats, etc. in rural areas, forest products are mostly seen, to make use of bamboo gotten from the forest to construct houses, as well as yam barns and a lot more.

Provision of Clothes

Clothes are essentials for man to help protect the body from ultraviolet rays, cold, or heat, as well as infectious or toxic materials from our bodies. The clothes we wear are gotten from both plant and animal products such as; I. Silk: It is made from the silkworm, it’s a soft fiber gotten from the saliva of a silkworm that is used in making the clothes we wear; ties, scarves, etc. II. Leather: This is a product gotten from animals and is refined to make belts, shoes, and some thick/protective clothing we wear. III. Wool: This is another animal product gotten from sheep, camel, etc., and is used to make sweaters, socks, and wraps for babies. IV. Cotton: Cotton is a plant product that is mostly used to manufacture clothes, especially in the United States. Other fibers used in making clothes are hemp, Sisal, Flax, etc.

Provision of Income

In agriculture, there is the process of production, processing, and distribution that takes place to bring about income. The final stage which is distribution is what generates income for you as it requires you to take your products to the market for sale. Agriculture is a business and should be regarded as one considering it is the main source of national income for most developing countries. In India, over 70% of rural households depend solely on agriculture and it contributes about 17% to their total GDP as well as employment of about 60% of their working population. Now that’s huge, Nigeria also has about 27% contributed to the GDP from the agricultural sector and the list continues. See a list of some agribusiness opportunities that can serve as a source of income for you; I. Poultry farming II. Fish farming III. Snail farming IV. Cassava farming V. Vegetable farming VI. Honey business VII. Palm oil production VIII. Plantain/ potato chips.

Provision of Job Opportunities

The agricultural sector hasn’t failed in providing jobs for the masses. It is a large sector that creates room for you irrespective of your areas of pursuit. The sector is moving at a fast pace and many are leveraging on the opportunities the sector provides and others are still trying to figure it out. The truth here is, it doesn’t matter when you figure it out cause there’s always an opportunity for you. About 20 million jobs in the US were generated from the agricultural sector, which employs about 1.3 billion people from around the world. Here are a few career opportunities available to you in the agricultural space; I. Food Scientist II. Agriculture journalist III. Agribusiness Management IV. Food packager V. Veterinarian VI. Wildlife Specialist.

Provision of Medicine

In the olden days when man domesticated animals for food, they also leveraged the forest and trees to make medicines to cure illnesses. They used tree backs, and plants gotten from deep in the forest to make herbs that were effective and still being used in some parts of the world. In Nigeria, plants like Neem, mixed with other plants, and trees back were used to make a certain herb called ‘Agbo’ which was effective. I remember how that was the malaria drug for me whenever I get sick. I don’t even know if it was worse than chloroquine because of the terrible taste on the tongue. All I can say is thank God for the evolution, haha! Modern-day medicines are still being gotten from agricultural products.

Provision of Raw Materials

Agriculture is the main source of raw materials for many industries. Manufacturing industries need around the world need these raw materials to produce the products that are used in the households of millions of people. Raw- materials that are gotten from agriculture make up what is being traded today and they include steel, oil, coal, natural gas, forest resources, plastics, minerals, etc. A country with abundant coal can decide to trade in some of its coal in exchange for plastic or what they are lacking that is abundant in another country just to be able to produce what they need in its own country. This can still be regarded as trade by barter which was practiced in the olden days.

Provision of Foreign exchange

Foreign exchange is crucial to a country’s economic development and it is tied to the agricultural sector. Exporting agricultural products is a source of foreign exchange for many developing and developed countries. Agricultural raw materials when imported can expand the manufacturing industries in a country and thereby increase the growth and development of that country. The lack of foreign exchange can act as a constraint necessary for the growth process of a country.

Conclusion

The importance of agriculture cannot be over emphasized. This is why the whole world needs to take this sector serious. Things need to improve in the agriculture sector, so that it can be more efficient in its ways of fighting hunger and poverty. You can listen to our podcast on how we can improve this sector.