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NBS: Farming rises to 91 percent in rural areas
By John Ofikhenua, Abuja
The 2020 -2021 farming season in rural areas has soared to 91 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
It said, “Yet even in rural areas, there was a slight increase in the share of households doing crop farming–from 86 per cent to 91 percent–over the same period”.
NBS said following the rebound of agricultural activities from the lockdown of the COVID -19, about 93 per cent of farmers are targeting higher income in 2021.
The Bureau made this known in its COVID-19 impact monitoring: November- December 2020.
The data, which The Nation obtained on Thursday, noted that; “Almost 93 per cent of crop farming households in the bottom consumption quin tile reported that their actual or expected revenues would be higher or much higher in the 2020/21 agricultural season than in previous agricultural seasons, compared with 63 per cent of crop farming households in the top consumption quin tile.
“In part, these patterns may arise because prices of food items have risen sharply throughout 2020: this could benefit net producers, although many households may be experiencing loss of purchasing power–as they have to buy food too–even as their farm revenues rise.”
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The report recalled that as the December 2020 round of the NLPS shows, the share of households doing crop-related farm working the 2020/21 agricultural season (running from March 2020 to February 2021) reached 80 per cent, rising from 70 per cent in the 2018/19 agricultural season (running from March 2018 to February 2019).
The increase, according to the bureau, was particularly stark in urban areas, where the share of households doing crop farming rose from 35 per cent to 56 per cent between the 2018/19 and 2020/21 agricultural seasons.
The report said the rebound in the share of respondents working showed little sign of wavering in November and December of 2020.
NBS noted that overall share of respondents working was 88 per cent in December 2020, roughly in line with pre-crisis levels.
