Shrinking local rubber production has forced imports to jump by 106 percent in 10 years.

LAGOS

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that Nigeria imported N631.1 billion worth of rubber in 2013. But this has jumped by N1.3 trillion in 2023, representing a 106 percent surge in the period.

Nigeria’s naira has slumped 90 percent over the 10-year period, indicating that this is not entirely due to the nation’s foreign exchange crunch.

Experts say the predominance of low-yielding aging trees and lack of investments in the subsector have reduced rubber production and led to the need for importation.

Igbinosun Idowu, national president of the National Rubber Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NARPPMAN), said the country urgently needs to resuscitate old trees to boost production.

“Most plantations, particularly smallholdings, were established more than 30 years ago and have passed their economic thresholds. Re-planting some of these farms has been difficult because of poor management and funding,” he said.

According to Idowu, the federal government should partner with other funding bodies to fund the development of rubber in the country.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria, the Bank of Agriculture and other financial institutions must fund the development of rubber in Nigeria. This is the only way to go if Nigerian rubber must find a comfortable position in the world,” Idowu stressed.

Data show that in 2013, rubber imports contributed 9 percent to total imports of N7 trillion. It contributed only 2.4 percent to exports of N14.2 trillion.

Similarly, in 2023, the commodity contributed 3.62 percent to total imports of N35.9 trillion and a meagre 0.15 percent to N35.9 trillion exports value.

While industry experts say the surge is mainly a result of the naira devaluation and not an indication of volume, Nigeria still imports a huge proportion of its rubber needs through an informal route.

An analysis of the GDP nine months report for 2024 shows that crop production totalled N35.2 trillion. However, there is no way to ascertain rubber’s contribution to the subsector.

Going by the latest data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAOStat), between 2020 and 2022 the country’s rubber production hovered around 149,000 metric tons, creating an enormous gap for importation.

Idowu said Nigeria cannot increase production without substantial governmental intervention through the implementation of working policies and accessibility of land for cultivation. “The land tenure system in the country has made land acquisition or lease for agro purposes difficult,” he said.

He further said that the hectares of land required for rubber plantation establishment are huge and difficult to access.

Although Nigeria has 18 million hectares of land suitable for the cultivation of rubber, only 200,000 hectares are in use today.

Stakeholders in the industry continuously decry the neglect of the sector after the emergence of crude oil. In the 1970s, rubber was among the top 10 agricultural exports following closely behind cocoa, generating foreign exchange into the country.

However, experts say the oil boom led to a focus shift away from rubber and other flagship crops, contributing to their grace to grass story.

Okomu, a leading player in the rubber market, announced its plans to discontinue rubber plantation due to excessive extortion by locals and high insecurity. In 2023, it produced 9,907 metric tons of rubber.

Okiemhen Aghughu, a retired plant breeding and genetics research expert at the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria, said for production to be increased, new trees must be planted now.

“Rubber is a tree crop that takes six to seven years before it can generate revenue. If we are talking about old trees, we then have to start planting new ones today because of the time it takes to yield,” he said in a telephone interview.

Agugu emphasised the need for finance to enhance in-depth research on the commodity.

“A constraint in research institutes is material production. They don’t get a lot of money. They don’t get a lot of resources. Now, when there is no money, there is limited research that can take place,” he stated.

According to the expert, farmers must also get it right from the cultivation process to ensure that high-yielding rubber trees are produced, noting that “this process is extremely important.

A large portion of Nigeria’s rubber and its derivatives are exported to Spain, France and South Africa. These countries have a huge market for rubber processing.

Thailand, a global leading producer of the commodity, has been able to convert raw rubber into a range of different products, as well as provide a source of livelihood to 10 percent of its population.

While Nigeria presently produces about six million tyres annually (four million for cars and two million for trucks), experts believe that with the industrialisation of raw rubber, this figure can be doubled.

“The level of conversion of natural rubber into finished products is currently at less than two percent since 98 percent of raw materials are exported,” said Idowu.

Rubber plantations are majorly cultivated in 24 states across the country including Edo, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa States.