AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

AND

POLICY

Edited by:

OLATOMIDE .W. OLOWA

And
TIMOTHY. T. AWOYEMI (PhD)

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AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY

© OLATOMIDE W. OLOWA
TIMOTHY T. AWOYEMI (Ph.D)

First Printing 2010

ISBN 9788047102

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in retrieval

system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without
prior written permission of the publishers.

Published by; Unique Educational Publishers, Palm grove,

Lagos. Nigeria.
+2348055057256, +23407060923799

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 Preface
Agricultural Development and Policy is a text borne out of the concern
to help students surmount the problems of non-availability of, or in-
accessibility to published materials and the rarity of scientific and
authoritative opinions on agricultural development and policy issues.

These problems have prevented students from getting suitable texts

that are home-made and tailored to meet the needs of the students.
The text is a collection of chapters written by experienced lecturers
drawn from various institutions across the nation.

Deliberate attempts have been made in it to ensure that the contents

of the book are adequate enough to meet the needs of students in
tertiary institutions with respect to Agricultural development, policy
and planning.

Each chapter offers many exercises or revision questions and adequate

referencing for additional in-depth reading, with meticulous attention
to relevance and level of coverage.

Agricultural Development and Policy is a text which should appeal to

students, policy-makers, administrators and the general reader, with
topics that reveals the structure, working and problems of Agricultural
planning, policy and development. In an age of desired accelerated
economic development and growth with recommended shift of
emphasis from mono-economic based on crude oil, an understanding
of the trends and underpinnings of Agricultural development and policy
augurs very well for the mobilization of efforts to engender integrated
agricultural development. It is with these thoughts and objectives that

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we prepare and recommend this text designed to make teaching more
meaningful and structure-conduct-performance of our Agriculture more
adapted to plans for modernization and accelerated growth.

We are particularly grateful to the contributors. Their responses were

prompt and timely. Taiwo Olayanju provided expert computer-editing
support throughout the project. Lastly, our gratitude goes to the
publishers of various texts and authors of the various articles cited for
their blanket permission assumed given in using their works.

The Editors
March, 2010.

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 CONTRIBUTORS
Ayodabo, Labaeka is a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural
Education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka,
Lagos.

Ojelade, A.Y.P. is a Principal lecturer in the Department of Agricultural

Education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka,
Lagos.

Ibiyemi, E.O. is a Principal lecturer in the Department of Agricultural

Education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka,
Lagos.

Umaru, J.I.A. is a Lecturers in the Department of Agricultural

Education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka,
Lagos.

Olowa, Ayodele, O. is a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural

Education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka,
Lagos.

Awoyemi, Timothy T. is an Associate Professor in the Department of

Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

Ajibade, Augustine, S. is a Senior lecturer in the Department of

Agricultural Education, Federal College of Education (Technical)
Akoka, Lagos.

Olowa, Olatomide W. is a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural

Education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka,
Lagos.

Oyekale, A.S. (Ph.D) is a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural

Economics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

Omonona, Bolarin T. (Ph.D) is a Senior lecturer in the Department of

Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

Oladipo, S.A. is a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Education,

Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka, Lagos.

Falade, A.A. is a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Education,

Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka, Lagos.

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Sanyaolu,Adeniyi is a lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences(Environmental
Biology Programme), Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos,

Sanyaolu,V.T is a lecturer in the Department of Science Laboratory Technology, School

of Technology, Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu,Lagos

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
1. Meaning of Development and Growth
Ayodabo Labeaka-------------------------------
2. Livestock Policy in the National development Plan
A.Y.P. Ojelade-----------------------------------------
3. Problems of Livestock Production and Development in Nigeria.
E.O. Ibiyemi -------------------------------
4. Role of Government in the Development of Agriculture in Nigeria
John Issah Umaru----------------------------------------
5. Characteristics of Nigerian Agriculture.
Omowumi A. Olowa.---------------------------
6. Theories of Agricultural Development
Timothy T. Awoyemi (Ph.D)---------------------------------
7. Community Development Policy, Strategy and Models-
Olatomide W. Olowa --------------------------

8. The Role of Extension Work inNigerian Agricultural Development.

A.S. Ajibade.-----------------------------------------------------
9. Colonial Policy in Nigerian Agriculture and Its Implementation.
Olatomide. W. Olowa -----------------------------------------------------
10. State Planning of Agriculture.
Bolarin .T. Omonona (Ph.D)----------------------------------------------
11. Policy Alignment in Nigerian Agricultural Development.
Timothy. T. Awoyemi (Ph.D)-------------------------------------------
12. Trends In Agricultural Development in Nigeria.
Ayo Oladipo -------------------------------------------
13. Institutions and Programmes for Agricultural Development in
Nigeria (1959– 2006).

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 A . Falade.---------------------------------------------------------
14. The Concept of Agricultural Fundamentalism as a Development
Policy.
O.W. Olowa.-------------------------------------------------------------------

15. The New Nigerian Agricultural Development Policy

O.A. Olowa ----------------------------

16. Effect of Climate Change on Agricultural Development

Sanyaolu,A .A.A and Sanyaolu,V.T

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 MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH

LABAEKA, AYODABO

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECH), AKOKA – LAGOS.

Highlights:
Introduction
Types of Development and Growth
Agricultural Development and Growth
Industrial Development and Growth
Educational Development and Growth.
Drive towards Development and Growth in Nigerian Economy
Revision Questions
Suggested further reading

Introduction
Development: Development generally means the improvement
of people’s life styles through improve education, Agricultural
development, incomes, skills development and employment.
Development also means that people should have decent
housing and that they should have security within those houses.
Development means too, that people should be able to read and
write and in Africa this is a problem as most people are still
illiterate. In order to develop or have better lives, people must
get a good education. Because illiterate people do not develop
as much as educated people do, it is therefore important that
people should get themselves a good education, or send their
children to school to get that education. The term development
has been used in variety of contexts, which imply social change,
evolution, progress, growth, modernization and advancement;

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Fletcher (1974) says “development can mean the actualization of
an implicit potentiality”. Thus any change that promotes or
actualizes the physical health of the society represents
development.

Growth: Dictionary meaning of growth means – an increase in

amount, number or size or an increase in the value of goods or
services produced and sold by a business or a country.

Types of Development and Growth

1. Agricultural Development and Growth:- Agriculture,
which is the oldest profession in the world, remain the
basic of life and traditional occupation of Nigerians.
Agriculture employs about 60 percent of the labour force
in Nigeria while not less than 65 percent of the country’s
population still lives in the rural area (Idochaba, 1994).
The Nigeria economy is so bad today that every Nigerian
needs to find alternative sources of meeting immediate
needs. Various sub-sectors of agricultural production
such as crops, livestock and fishery enterprises form a
few of numerous areas that Nigerian can look into to
meet the increasing needs of families. The sector can
therefore be seen as the engine of economic growth and
social development.

Problems of Agriculture Development in Nigeria

Agricultural sector in Nigeria has contributed to the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) and provision of employment. For

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examples during 1982 –86, agricultural production accounted for
over 40 percent of the GDP and rural activities absorbed over 60
percent of the nation’s labour force (Agbabiaje, 1988). With the
advent of crude oil, agriculture which was the nation’s foreign
exchange earning suffered severe neglect since the 1970, as a
result of which the nation started to import food and other
agricultural products that hitherto were produced in the country.

The agricultural sector has been a drug on the economy of the

country since independence. This is due to several problems and
constraints on agricultural development in Nigeria. Among these
problems and constraints include insufficient capital arising from
low capital allocation to agriculture by government and the
ineffective credit delivery system to farmers. Most Nigerian
farmers are self employed, operating on small scales due to land
tenure problem and using age – old method of cultivation. They
lack initiatives to adopt possible innovations, and hence, their
level of poverty remains unimproved, poor storage and
processing facilities lead to wastage of agricultural produce.
Improper storage reduces the quantity or quality of farm produce.
Agricultural production has been restrained by labour and
manpower problems with farm labour shortages in supposedly
labour surplus economies. Marketing systems has not been
served by adequate infrastructure and information while erratic
price policies have not encouraged large farm productivity in
Nigeria. Bad roads or total lack of roads prevent evacuation of
produce to market. Most farms in rural areas are not linked by
roads and this eventually leads to wastage of food. The country

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is adversely affected by environmental problem especially the
instability of rainfall. Incidence of pests and diseases, and low
soil fertility due to high population pressure.

Technology constraints arise from use of crude and inefficient

implements, inadequate innovation coming out of research
findings for enhancing the application of farm inputs.
Inconsistent government policies on agriculture reduces
agricultural productivity. These policies failed to recognize the
peasant farmers that produce food for the country. Poor
implementation of these policies reduce agricultural productivity
due to these problems, the role of agriculture in the economic
development of Nigeria, has largely been passive and
subsistence agriculture still remains the norm throughout Nigeria
but its pattern is being changed by the large scale farming
system (especially in the Northern parts of Nigeria), introduction
of fertilizer and other modern methods of farming, and the
realization of the fact that if Nigeria is to feed herself, agriculture
will have to be developed into a thriving business.

Strategies for Developing Agricultural Sector in Nigerian Economy.

In meeting the strategic agricultural growth, sustainability and
increasing agricultural productivity, broad based agricultural
development driven by cost – reducing productivity, enhancing
technological change has to be of paramount strategic
importance (Labaeka, 2004).

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In developing the agricultural sector within the Nigeria economic
there is a need to put in place the following strategies.

i) Rural Development and Growth.

Particular attention should be focused on improving life of small-
scale farmers who form about 70 percent of the farming population.
Provision of basic amenities such as water, good road, electricity,
health centers, schools in rural communities will reduce rural-urban
migration of able bodied men and women. Rural Dwellers can then
be gainfully engaged in the field of agriculture. Provision of effective
transportation and communication networks make it possible for
farm produce to be moved to the urban centres at a faster and
cheaper rate, thus wastage is reduced and the farm income is
increased. It also creates easy accessibility into the international
market, encourages export and improvement of the quality of the
farm produce to meet international market standard.

ii) Provision of Agricultural Production Enhancers in the

Rural Areas:- Farmers should be supplied, through the

extension services, good quality seeds and seedling that are
capable of withstanding pests and diseases and producing
higher yield.

Government capital budgetary allocations to agriculture on

annual basis had been comparatively low. This trend should
however be reversed so as to stop the present state of a
depressed economy. Provision of agricultural capital will
encourage farmers to adopt improved technology, buy
quality seeds, employ more labour, invest on cash crops
and expand the size of their farms. Plans should be put in
place to synchronize research and extension services.
Emphasis should be placed on biological, chemical and

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 small-scale mechanical technologies that can serve the
needs of small-scale farmers. The development of on-farm
and off-farm storage system together with proper
disinfestations procedures for controlling storage pests will
reduce wastage on the farm, stabilize prices and encourage
farmers to venture into large scale farming. The cuts down
looses during storage, processing and transportation
ensures efficient distribution of farm produce and provide
the farmers with up-to-date market information. All these
assure the farmers of a dependable market where goods
can be sold at competitive prices and therefore encourage
the farmers to produce more.

Exporting of agricultural produce has a long comparative

advantage in Nigeria. It helps to finance the imports, of
other commodities, expand the country’s market, enhance
the income of farmers and aid the rapid growth and
development of agriculture sector.

iii) Risks And Uncertainties Reduction:- Stabilization of

producer prices reduces farmers uncertainty about
expected prices and thus encourages the farmers to
produce more and adopt new technology for increased
profit. According to Ojo (1991), improved agricultural prices
have enhanced agricultural exports and likewise encourage
farmers to produce more. Traditional agriculture is
vulnerable to pests, diseases and climate changes. This has
made farmers to suffer losses, crop failure and bankruptcy,
hence discouraging investment in farming. Therefore

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 farmers will be encouraged to invest more in agriculture, if
government could insure farmers up to certain percentage
of the average of their past yields. This will shift the major
risk in agricultural production from the farmers to the
government. Crops insurance instrument will ensure:-
a) Adequate and reliable food supplies.
b) Fair and reasonable producer income
c) Adoption of appropriate technology
d) Export of agricultural goods and
e) Development of the agricultural sector.
iv) Good and Stable Agricultural Policy:- Government of
Nigeria should provide the right incentives through
government policy reforms. This will help to overcome the
weakness in the agricultural sector of the economy.
Properly formulated agricultural policy, encourages foreign
exchange earning, provision of adequate food, provision of
raw materials for the country’s agro-allied industries, import
substitution, employment opportunities in the agricultural
sector, and consequently rapid development of the
agricultural sector within the Nigerian economy.

2) Industrial Development and Growth.

Industrial policy was almost non-existent during the colonial era.
The economic plan which span the periods 1914 – 1945 and 1945 –
1956 were silent on industrial development (Florence O.A., 2004). In
particular, the 1945 – 1956 plan sought to provide for the acute
shortage of export crops brought about by the second world war,
and on the recommendation of the world bank mission which visited
Nigeria, a 5 – year development plan for 1955-1960 was adopted.
This plan, which lacked economic targets, placed emphasis on
improved communication and transport system and also agriculture
for export. On this policy, Nigeria was to remain a primary raw

14
material producing area for Great Britain. Even at the eve or our
independent, there was virtually no effort to make industrialization a
national priority. The 1962 – 1968 National Development plan is
what can really be called the first national plan since it specified
target to be achieved. Government planned to invest 15% of the
GDP annually on the productive sector of the economy which was to
ensure an average growth rate of 4%. The commissioning of the
Kainji Dam and the Ughell Thermal plants marked the major
achievement of this plan by paving the way for the virtual
infrastructure needed for setting up of industries. An oil refinery, a
development Bank, a Mint and Security plant were established all of
which constituted a boost to the industrial take-off in Nigeria. For
the first time also trade and industry started receiving both the
Federal and Regional government attention. It should be noted
however that the attention was concentrated on large scale (Multi-
national) establishments to the utter neglect of small scale
enterprises, where existed the concentration of self-employed. Even
till this time, both the Federal and State Governments focused their
attention to the large scale companies.

Shift in Attention From Big to Small Scale Industries (SSI)

However, by the second-half of the 1970s the government’s official
attitude to small scale industries (SSI) began to improve and in
subsequent development plans, both the federal and the state
governments have been eloquent on the importance of the small-
scale industrial sub-sector to the over-all economy. Small scale
enterprises have since been given increasing policy attention partly
because of the growing disappointment with the results of the
development of large scale industrial plants on labour absorption but
most importantly because of the realization of the potentials of
Small Scale Industries (SSI) in terms of positive contributions to
economic development.

Since the 1970s attention has shifted to the small and medium scale
industries in big way and was followed by the creation of financial
institutions to provide sources of institutional credit for Small and
Medium Scale Industries (SMES) e.g. Nigeria Industrial Bank (NIB),
Nigeria Bank for Commerce and Industry (NBIC), Nigeria Agricultural
and Cooperative Bank (NACB), people’s Bank, Community Banks and

15
 so on. The Federal Government has since continued in its effort to
support small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MESs). Specialized
credit schemes were also set up to enhance the spread and
productive efficiency of small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).
Among such schemes are:-
a) The World Bank Assisted SME Schemes.
b) National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND).
c) The Export Stimulation Loan Scheme (ESLS).
d) The Rediscounting and Refinancing Facility (RRF).

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) established in 1986 is

another channel through which government has promoted the
development of SMEs whilst the Work for Yourself Programme (WEYP)
introduced by the Federal Ministry of Industries and assisted by the
International Labour Organization (ILO) aim at developing
entrepreneurial skill and putting innovative ideas to fruition.

3). Educational Development and Growth.

The first colonial policy on education was in 1925. This policy was
for Africa and it touched on primary, secondary and adult education.
Further policies in 1935, 1940 and 1945 built upon the 1925 policy,
modifying it with little addition here and there, emphasis being on
adult education on the production of literate nationals who were
required to man positions, which would strengthen the colonial
administration. Thus our educational institutions, few as they were
remained factories for producing clerks, interpreters, forest guards
and sanitary inspectors as no special professional nor
entrepreneurial skill was envisaged in the educational system
(Akinyemi, 1987). The complete absence of enterprise education in
the educational policy had continued till now.

Technical and Vocational Training and Enterprise Education.

The Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) has been recognized to
play a pivotal role in the economic and social development and in
poverty alleviation. In Nigeria as early as the 1980s technical and
vocational education had been made an integral aspect of general
education. The 6-3-3-4-education system saw to the vocationalization
of the secondary school curriculum in Nigeria.

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The acquisition of relevant vocational technical and business skills is
generally regarded as one of the critical factors in the success of small,
micro and medium sized enterprises (SMME) especially in lifting them
from survivalist activities, to larger and better earning enterprises.

However, the challenges of technical and vocational education and

training in Nigeria are:-
i) There is need to reorient Technical and Vocational Education
(TVE) more towards self-employment by the active teaching
of enterprise education in every technical and vocational
school /college.
ii) There is need to address the tendency to look down on
Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) as being inferior to
secondary education. The minimal attention accorded to
technical and vocational education programmes by the
University has contributed to the negative attitudes, which
TVE has earned due to the lack of opportunities for further
education (Kerre 1998). A possible solution to this problem
may be the introduction of vocational courses oriented
towards self-employment to the curriculum of some
Universities. People in vocational institutions should be able
to find their path through University if they so desire and
specialize in their chosen career.
Drive Towards Development and Growth in Nigerian
Economy
Today, unemployment has reached an embarrassing level and the loss
of employment opportunity for young graduates has led to frustration,
insecurity and uncertainty about the future. At present most industries
which could have absorbed this pool of unemployed graduates have
shut down while those still in existence operate well below their
capacity. The educational institutions have continued to produce
graduates while there is no effective national policy in place on
industrialization or self-employment to create jobs for the graduates or
to motivate them to create jobs for themselves. If Nigeria is to
develop, Nigerians needs to go back to farming and if the trend of
downward development in agriculture is not immediately reversed, the

17
other sector of the economy will be equally affected and the Nigerian
economy may eventually die a natural death.

In view of these the following recommendations are hereby suggested:

i) Provision of factors that will enhance or aid agricultural
production should be made e.g. provision of good quality
inputs, finances, transport and communication networks,
storage and processing facilities etc.
ii) Traditional agriculture is vulnerable to pests, diseases and
climate changes. This had made farmers to suffer losses,
crop failure and bankruptcy, hence discouraging investment
in farming. Farmers should be encouraged to invest more in
agriculture. Government could reduce the risks and
uncertainties involved in the farm business through insurance
and back up, the agricultural sector with good and stable
policies that favour production and the farmers.
iii) For proper development and growth, entrepreneurship
orientation should be made an element at all levels of
learning from primary schools to secondary schools and
tertiary institutions. All institutions should teach a course in
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, the coverage and complexity of which
will vary with the level of the institution.
iv) There is definitely a need for a change in the mind-set of our
youth to see self-employment as an option before leaving
school and be prepared psychologically and emotionally for it.
v) Finally, I wish to recommend a planned integration of policies
on education, industrialization, agriculture and enterprise in a
way to foster skills, attitudes and values amongst the youth,
appropriate to starting, owning or working in successful
business enterprises.

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 Revision Questions

1a) Simply Explain the meaning of Development and

Growth.
1b) List and Explain types of development and growth that
can move the economy of your country forward.
2(a) How can Agriculture contribute to Nigerian economy?
b) What are the problems of agricultural development in
Nigeria?
c) State the strategies for developing agricultural sector in
Nigerian economy.
3a) Why the shift in attention from Big to small scale
industries in Nigeria.
b) List the financial institutions that provide credit for small
and medium scale industries.
c) Highlight the Channels through which government has
promoted the development of small and medium scale
enterprises.
4a) Highlight the challenges of technical and vocational
education and training in Nigeria.
b) State the pivotal role played by Technical and Vocational
education in the economic and social development and in
poverty alleviation in Nigeria.

Suggested further reading

Agbabiaje, J.O. (1998). Nigeria Journal of Agricultural Education.

Vol. 1 (Nos. 1 & 2).

Akinyemi, A.O. (1987). “Effects of Government Policies on the

Development of Small – Scale Industries in Nigeria”. Paper
Presented at the National Conference on Small-Scale Industries
Organized by Business and Projects Consultancy of NISER Ibadan. 23
– 25th, Feb. 1987.

19
Florence, O.A. (2004). Nigeria Educational Policy and
Entrepreneurship”. J. Soc. Sci. 9 (2): 75 – 83.

Idachaba, F.S. (1994). “Nigeria’s Food Self-Sufficiency Programme:

Cornucopia or Pandora’s Box” in Invited Paper in proceeding of 1984
Annual Conference of Nigeria Economic Society.

Kere, B. W. (1998). “The Role and Potential of Technical and

Vocational Education in Formal Education System in African”. Paper
Presented at the Conference, held in the Centre for African Studies,
University of Edinburgh. 26-27th May 1998.

Labaeka, A. (2004). “Developing Agriculture in Nigerian economy”

Wonder Hands. Journal of Vocational Education. Federal College of
Education, Osiele Abeokuta, Nigeria. Vol. 5, No. 1 Pp. 49 – 55.

Ojo, M.O. (1991). “Agriculture and Structural Adjustment in the

ECOWAS: Review of the Nigerian Experience”. West Africa Journal
Agriculture Vol. 6.

20
 LIVESTOCK POLICY IN THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

BY
OJELADE, A. Y. P.
Department of Agricultural Education
Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka,Lagos
Highlights
Introduction
Meaning and Scope of Livestock Production in Nigeria
Contribution of Livestock to Peasant Farmers
Problems and Strategies for improving Livestock Production in Nigeria
Functions and Objectives of Livestock Sub-sector in the National
Development Plan
Meaning of Livestock Policy
National Livestock Policy Objectives
The Importance of Policy Issues in Livestock Sub-Sectors
Policy Element and Processes in Livestock Sub-Sectors

Introduction
Nigeria’s agricultural policy is the synthesis of the framework and
action plans of government designed to achieve overall agricultural
growth and development. The policy aims at the attainment of self-
sustaining growth in all the sub-sector of agriculture and the structural
transformation necessary for the overall socio-economic development
of the country as well as the improvement in the quality of life of
Nigerians. Nigeria faces serious poverty challenges and it is estimated

21
that two-thirds of Nigerians now live below the poverty line of US$1 per
day, most of them in rural areas. Recognizing these challenges, the
Federal Government of Nigeria has identified investment in agriculture
and rural development as a major priority in the National Development
Plan.
In the past four years, various rural development strategies have been
formulated that offer a promising strategic direction to achieve poverty
reduction, food security, and accelerated economic development. Yet,
despite the articulation of these strategies and the commitment of
government to the broader framework of pro-poor rural development,
many complex issues remain to be resolved regarding the design;
implementation, and monitoring of the progress of the strategies as
they unfold. The National Development Plan provides an ideal for the
international community to support Nigeria’s effort to revitalize
agriculture as an engine for pro-poor growth and employment creation
in Nigeria. Livestock production is a sub-sector under agriculture that is
concerned with production of farm animal, such cattle, goat, sheep,
pig, poultry, rabbits, snail, fishes and their products. This chapter
discussed livestock policy in the National Development Plan.

Meaning and Scope of Livestock Production in Nigeria

Livestock farming involves the rearing of animals. Animal’s products in
Nigeria include cattle, poultry, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits etc. Cattle
are prominent in the savanna area of the north. Animal products form
an important source of protein fish. Farming, fishing constitutes
important occupation of people who live along the coasts and major
rivers in Nigeria. Fish is also a source of protein. Hunting is carried out
in forested areas. Wild animals are caught which also constitute a
source of meat production.
The major scope of livestock production includes:
(i) Animal Production and Management.

22
 (ii) Animal Nutrition.
(iii) Animal Physiology and Anatomy
(iv) Animal Breeding and Genetics
(v) Meat and By-product Processing, Preservation and Packaging.
(vi) Livestock Extension Service and Education.
(vii) Livestock Marketing; and
(viii) Animal Health.

Contribution of Livestock to Peasant Farmers

Farm animals supply peasant farmers, and the entire citizens of a
country with the much needed animal protein. These proteins come in
form of eggs meat and milk and are very essential in sustaining the
help of the peasant farmers. This enables them to provide necessary
labour. From poultry the products are meats and eggs, from sheep we
have meat otherwise known as mutton, from goat we have goat meat,
from cattle we have beef while from pig we have pork and bacon.
Peasant farmers derive part of their income by selling of animals such
as poultry sheep and goat, pigs and cattle in addition to arable
farming. Livestock keeping serves as insurance against crop failure for
peasant farmers. Farming is like any other form of business with its
attendant risks and uncertainty. The risks and uncertainty may be in
form of drought, pest, and disease attack, flood and fire disasters. It
may also come in form of fall in price. Whenever this happens, peasant
farmers can seek solace in selling their livestock thus cushion the
adverse effects.
Derive from above explanation, livestock help to reduce uncertainly
and risk of the farmer. When animal production is integrated into
arable crop farming, less cost is incurred on fertilizer. This is because
the manure can be used to fertilize the soil. This method of fanning

23
commonly referred to as mixed farming is adjusted to be suitable for
peasant farmers i.e. crop-livestock integration. Animals like goat are
used for controlling bush encroachment through their destructive
eating habit.
By-product of livestock animals such as hides and skins, hooves, horns
are used as raw material by local industries for manufacturing of
leathers, button and gelatin, respectively. By-product of livestock
production such as bone meal, blood meal and tank age serve as
feedstuffs. Some farm animals supply labour on the farm such animals
include horse, donkey, oxen etc. These animals are either used for
drawing plough or as a means of transporting other farm produce from
one place to another.

Problems and Strategies for improving Livestock Production in

Nigeria
The growth of animal industry in the tropics has been retarded by a
number of problems. This retardation has seriously limited the
availability of animal protein for human consumptions most especially
in Nigeria. It has been estimated that African has nearly 4 times as
many cattle as Northern America, nearly 4 times as many sheep more
than six time as many goat. Yet, the average animal intake in the
Northern America is over six times that of Africa.Some of the problems
that are responsible for these are discussed below:
1. Breed of Animal Available: One of the greatest limitations to
livestock production in Nigeria is the type of animals that are
indigenous to this area. The animals are small in size have high
mortality (death rate) during growing and reach market weight
slowly. Furthermore, they are generally low producers of milk
and meat. Worse still, little effort have been made towards their
genetic improvement, by importation of exotic breed which often

24
 meet with great failure as a result of differences in climatic
conditions.
2. Climatic Problem: The climate of Nigeria can be divided into:
(i) Tropical rain forest region
(ii) Savannah area and
(iii) Semi arid region. Each of these climatic zones has some
adverse
effect on livestock production and development.
The tropical rain forest even though contains adequate water and
feeding materials year round, is limited by the facts that it is conducive
for the multiplication of pest and disease organisms that destroy
livestock animals. For example, Tsetse fly which is a vector of
trypanosomiasis is prevalent in this zone of Nigeria. Also, the warmth
and humid conditions favours the development of Fungus, Bacteria and
other Pathogens.The Savannah area is limited by the fact that forage
availability is seasonal which expose the livestock to semi-starvations
during the dry season of the year. The animals thus have protracted
growth and take longer period to reach slaughter weight.The Semi arid
Region on the other hand is limited by both water and feed and
animals have to trek long distances in search of these vital and basic
needs of life.
3. System of Husbandry: The system of livestock husbandry that
is prevalent in Nigeria is extensive system of livestock management
and in the case of cattle and sheep; it is mostly in the hand of Fulani’s
which moves their stock in response to seasonal availability of grasses.
Under the extensive system of management grazing and watering of
animal pose a great problem. The animals depend mostly on the
natural grass land for the supply of required nutrients both for
maintenance and for production.
These grass species are mostly annual of very poor feeding quality and
is largely responsible for the poor performance of animals as measured

25
by growth rate and productivity. The poor condition of grassland is
further aggravated or compounded by the unusual drought which
occurs from time to time. The climatic conditions placed serious
limitations on both the quality and quantity of the available grazing to
the extents that most animals loose weight during period of scarcity
and some even die as a result of lack of adequate grazing pasture
lands.
4. Problems of Unreliable Data: Livestock census figures in
Nigeria have generally been based on various form of livestock
taxation figure or small sample count. The results have therefore been
variable and unreliable. The variation is even greater with other
species of livestock that are not subject to taxation and which are
uniformly distributed throughout the country. Nevertheless, adequate
statistics are required in order to be able to objectively assess the
present status and constructively plan for the future of livestock
development.
5. Feeding and Nutritional Problems: The problem of feeding is
one of the most serious one facing livestock farmers in the tropics.
Nutritional requirement for various classes of livestock have been well
documented in temperate region but little is known about the effect of
warm environment on nutrient requirement and utilization in the
tropics. The formulation of livestock ration in the tropics is therefore
based on the requirement data in the temperate region. The cost of
feeding is too high and has been estimated to account for more than
60% of the total cost of production.
6. Disease Problems: The tropical region to which Nigeria belong
is very conducive to pest and disease proliferation. The tropical rain
forest region of Nigeria is highly infested with tsetse fly vector of
Trypanosomiasis which almost makes cattle production impossible in
this region. Some other diseases like Rinder pest, foot and mouth

26
disease and pestesdepetit ruminae (PPR) are endemic to the tropical
countries of the world.
7. Marketing and Distribution: Most of the cattle, sheep and
goat that are produced in Nigeria are produced in the dry area of the
North. They are sold in urban areas of the South. Three types of
transportations are used such as trekking, trailers and rails. Movement
by trekking is slow, animals are exposed to disease and injury because
they trek for weeks also constitutes a severe constraint (limitation),
using trailers. is fast and reduces shrinkages losses but a lot of risk is
associated with it due mainly to frequent accident on the relatively
poor roads, bad driving habit by drivers and over-crowding coupled
with over-speeding.

8. Inadequate Personnel: Livestock production is a complex

undertaking which requires a lot of professionals such as veterinarians,
animal scientist etc all working together to ensure that production and
marketing and distribution system operates effectively. Even though
Nigeria cannot be said to have inadequate personnel in the area of
livestock production but most of the professionals are bound to waste
away through unemployment soon after huge amounts have been
expended on their training.
9. Problem of Inadequate Infrastructure: Infrastructural
facilities are needed for livestock production in Nigeria. There are no
good roads for the transportation of livestock products to the
marketing centre, dams are not available, electricity and pipe-borne
water are either absent or unreliable. All these constitute serious set
back to livestock development.
10. Land Problem: Livestock production requires a large expense of
land most especially ruminant production. Land acquisition is not
always easy in the tropics due mainly to the system of tenure that are

27
prevalent in these areas. In Nigeria, land tenure by inheritance makes
it difficult to get large area of land.
11. Capital Problem: A lot of money is needed to build dam, roads
and to purchase foundation stock and to pay for personnel. This is
beyond the reach of most farmers in Nigeria. The loan facilities
available to farmers is limited due to the fact that the amount of
money that is voted for agriculture is small and further reduced for
livestock. Most of the farmers are not credit-worthy because of their
lack of collateral security.

12. Lack of Subsidy & Inadequate Funding by the

Government: The government of Nigeria has not been given
adequate place to livestock production in her annual budget, also
research institutions are not properly funded and their results are not
boosted commercially to benefit the society e.g. NPRI at Zaria.,
Veterinary Research Institute at Vom and the little vote made available
are mismanaged by those in the realms of power.

Functions and Objectives of Livestock Sub-sector in the

National
Development Plan
It is necessary to know the present functions of livestock sector in
order to gauge how well it is performing in relation to policy objectives,
and to ensure that new policies designed to achieve new objectives do
not, unintentionally or to an unexpected degree, disrupt the
performance of existing socially desirable functions. The government
should beware of multiple functions of livestock and of the complex
relationship between those functions. The government should also
know which functions are important to which social classes or ethnic
groups in which areas of the states. The policy analysts should
understand the different kinds of products system found in every part

28
of the country and how those systems are changing over time. It is
important to understand that expanding the output of one function
may double the output of another. There are several ways of
classifying livestock sector functions. The first step in the classification
process is to quantify the relative importance of different present
functions as a prelude to judging how much they may be disrupted by
new policy. However, two widely used classifications are
conventionalized in terms of:
(i) Kinds of output; and
(ii) Uses to which these outputs are put.
Among the kinds of outputs produce are: food (i.e. meat, milk, eggs);
inputs to croppy (i.e. manure and farm power in form of animal
traction); and raw materials (e.g. wool and skins to make other
goods).Among output uses are: subsistence consumption by the
livestock holder’s household; direct supply of inputs (e.g. tradition and
manure to crop production); cash income through sales of live animals
or their output; saving and investment through increasing the size and
quality of the herd; and social functions such as paying bride wealth,
helping destitute families by lending them livestock or providing
animals for communal feasts or sacrifices. Addis Anteneh et al (1988)
analyzed the relative importance of livestock sectors functions in the
sub-Saharan African. They reported the relative importance during the
late 1970’s of different kinds of outputs when these were calculated in
terms of monetary value. These authors reported that meat remains
the most valuable output accounting for 47% of the total of the meat,
beef accounts for 57%, and small ruminant meat for 22%. The second
most valuable output is animal traction accounting for 31%, milk, the
third most valuable output account for 15%. At the same time, regional
variation in terms of the relative contribution of output was noted.
Specifically, the functions of livestock sub-sectors include:

29
 (i) Provision of balanced protein for human consumption in terms
of milk, meat and eggs.
(ii) Provision of horns, hooves for gelatin, comb, buttons, spoons,
handles etc, feed, manure and maggots for fish culture.
(iii) Provision of farm power for traction and transport.
(iv) Provision of feedstuffs for livestock e.g. bones meal, blood
meal, meat scraps and offal etc.
(v) Provision of employment for citizens.
(vi) For leisure and social entertainment.
The Specific Objectives of the Sub-Sector are:
1) To improve the nutritional status of Nigerians through the domestic
provision of high quality protein rich livestock products.
2) To make Nigerian self sufficient in the production of livestock.
3) To improve locally all necessary raw materials input for the
livestock industry.
4) To allow for a meaningful and efficient use of livestock by-product.
5) To improve and stabilize rural income emanating from livestock
production and processing.
6) To efficiently protect the rural livestock farmers from the
unpredictable changes and risks incidental to livestock production.
7) To provide rural employment opportunities through expanded
livestock production and processing.
8) To affect proper land use and maintenance of the ecological
system for expanded livestock production.

The targets of Nigerian government are to attain self-sufficiency in

livestock production in the shortest possible time. The government
planned the following strategies:
1) Ecological Specialization: The government intends to divide the
whole country into various zones and each zone to specialize in the
keeping of the type of animals in which it has comparative advantage.

30
 However, government does not intend to discourage anybody from
keeping animals of his own choice.

2) Sedentarisation: Under this category, the government intends to

settle the nomadic Fulanis and provide them with necessary
infrastructure like water, hospital, school and irrigation facilities.
3) Livestock Feeds Production: Government plans to make feeds and
feed ingredients available to the livestock farmers. Government also
plans the production of cereals on a large scale knowing that it
constitutes more than 60% of livestock feeds.
4) Livestock Breeding: Government plans to embark on livestock
breeding programmes aimed at improving the indigenous breeds.
Where the rate of progress is slow, government also plans to upgrade
the indigenous breeds by crossing them with more superior exotic
breeds.
5) Animal Health: Government plans to make veterinary drugs available
to the livestock farmers at affordable prices, efforts is also being made
to manufacture these drugs locally e.g. at Vom.
6) Incentives: Government plans to give incentives to livestock farmers
in form of tax exemption from import duty.
7) Veterinary Public Health: Programmes and campaign aims at
eradicating diseases.
8) Animal by Products Development: Government plans to make
efficient use of livestock by products.
9) Input supply: Government plans to supply necessary inputs to the
livestock farmers.
10) Input Subsidies: Government plans to subsidize inputs used for
animal production.
Meaning of Livestock Policy

31
The word “policy is not a lightly defined concept but a highly flexible
one, used in different ways on different occasions. Webster’s
Dictionary has a number of closely related meanings. They are:
“A definite course or method of action selected (by government,
institution, group or individual) from among alternatives and in the
light of given conditions to guide and, usually to determine present
and future decision”.
“A specific decision or set of decisions designed to carry out such a
course of action”.
“Such a specific decision or set of decisions together with the related
action designed to implement them”.
“A projected programme consisting of desired objectives and the
means to achieve them”.
In English usage, policies are “made” and “implemented” in the same
way that decisions are made and implemented. Yet, it is possible to
have policies that are not or cannot be implemented, so that,
conceptually, action that implements policies need not necessarily be
part of policy itself. Although, a policy is a set of coherent decisions
with a common long-term purpose(s). When decisions are one-off,
incoherent or opportunistic, complaints are made that a government
“does not have a policy”. Government policies are often supported by
special legislation. The term “policy”, “plan”, “programme” and
“project” are progressively more specific in time and place. Policies are
usually national policies (not state or local government) and are not
normally limited in time: one does not usually speak in terms of 2-
years policies, as one does of 2-year programme or 5-year plans.
For the purpose of this chapter, livestock policy will be defined as:
“A coherent set of decisions with a common long-term objective(s)
affecting or relevant to the livestock sub-sector”.In the countries of
sub-Saharan Africa, livestock policy may mean either a complete
package of decisions covering all aspects of the livestock sub-sector or

32
 a particular set of decisions dealing with a single aspect. Examples of
the former are the Livestock Policy of Tanzania (1983) and the National
Livestock Development Policy of Kenya (1980). Examples of the latter
are:
“Livestock-related land tenure policies, such as the Tribal Grazing Land
Policy of Botswana or the policies and related laws covering grazing
reserves in Nigeria or group ranches in Kenya”.
“Pricing policies, such as those embodied in the purchase prices
established by the Cold Storage Commission in Zimbabwe or the Meat
Commission in Kenya”.
Disease-control policies, as for foot-and-mouth-disease in
Bostwana,Zimbabwe and Kenya
National Livestock Policy Objectives
A key step in identifying the most important policy issues on which to
concentrate is to identify the government’s own policy objectives and
to gain some idea of the relative importance of each of these
objectives. While they are sometimes difficult to prioritize, a rough
ranking is both possible and essential if overall policy is to be effective
and not deflected by internal or external interest groups. Government
objectives for the livestock sub-sector are determined partly by an
overall political philosophy and partly through an assessment of the
direction and speed at which change in the current functions of the
sub-sector is desired. The terms in which governments state their
objectives vary in each country. However, most objectives can be
classified as falling into one of five broad groups:

 independence objectives
 economic efficiency objectives.
 resource conservation objectives.
 stability objectives.

33
 equity objectives.
Independence Objectives
Independence objectives are concerned with obtaining and preserving
a satisfactory degree of political and economic autonomy.
Independence implies that a country neither depends on foreign aid to
meet the basic needs of its population nor is susceptible to external
political interference (the former is often linked to the latter). Meeting
the independence objective requires a high degree of self-reliance, in
the sense that a country will wish either to be entirely self-sufficient in
basic food commodities or to dispose of sufficient foreign exchange to
meet part of its demand through imports. “Self-sufficiency” in all basic
foodstuffs, meaning that the country produces domestically enough to
meet its entire demand, is sometimes advocated. But self-sufficiency
in this sense can involve very high costs if the country does not have
the natural or other resources to produce a particular food commodity
at low cost. It may be better to produce some other (e.g. non-food)
commodity for which it does have the appropriate resources and to sell
that to raise the foreign exchange to buy the food commodity.

Economic Efficiency
Economic efficiency objectives “Efficiency” are concerned with
increasing the level of real national income and its growth rate over
time. Economic efficiency is a very complex concept. Efficiency implies
that a country use existing, and generates new, technology to
minimize costs per unit of output, and seek a combination of outputs
consistent with its comparative advantage in the international market.
Efficiency will usually be closely related to the appropriateness of price
signals conveyed through the market mechanism. Government
intervention often distorts these signals, resulting in a mix-allocation of
resources within the economy. However, the market mechanism alone

34
will not necessarily lead to optimum long-term development. Carefully
thought out government interventions are often needed to ensure that
the conditions for long-term efficiency in livestock sub-sector are
fulfilled.
Resource Conservation Objectives
Resource conservation objectives are concerned with preserving the
natural resource base in order to ensure long-term efficiency and
independence. These objectives are of particular importance to
Nigerian livestock policy makers because of serious environmental
problems, such as overgrazing, often attributed to livestock.
Stability Objectives
Stability objectives are concerned with avoiding abrupt and large
changes in incomes, in the price and availability of domestically
produced basic commodities and inputs, and in the consequent need
for foreign exchange to buy essential imports. Since stability is rarely
secured without cost, absolute stability of prices and quantities should
not be the aim. Indeed, absolute price stability when production is
inherently unstable can worsen both supply problems and farmer
viability. Nor should food security be confused with self-sufficiency in
the production of all food types. Livestock markets, in particular, are
inherently unstable. As a result, livestock policy should be directed
towards achieving an adequate degree of stability.

Equity Objectives
Equity objectives are concerned with the fair distribution of income and
wealth within society. Important equity considerations in relation to
livestock include the distribution of income and assets among different
types of farms within and among regions, and the allocation of land
use rights between producers. The equity objective also concerns the
relative well-being of producers and consumers, the distribution of
purchasing power between different groups of consumers and the

35
availability of employment opportunities. The market process alone will
not normally lead to greater equity. Indeed, it may actually increase
inequity, especially when the status quo is already inequitable or when
economic power is becoming increasingly concentrated. Improving
equity is, ostensibly, considered essential to policy formulation.

Perhaps the most frequently encountered and best known example of

an undeclared objective is evinced by fixing livestock prices at levels
that favour urban consumers rather than rural producers. While
governments publicly espouse equity, efficiency or independence, their
real objective may be self-preservation which could favour the
interests of certain groups over others. A government’s real objectives
may thus be at variance with its declared objectives. Moreover,
whether declared or undeclared, governments’ objectives may be
incompatible with those of certain social groups or classes, whose
interests may, in turn, also clash. Political reality is such that
governments are frequently “captured” by interest groups which,
through their superior wealth, power or ability to organize, have
developed greater political leverage. Thus, in Nigeria, urban consumers
of livestock products often have greater leverage than rural mixed
farmers who account for the bulk of production. These, in turn, tend to
have more influence than the pastoral groups, who produce less, are
fewer in number and inhabit more remote areas.
The Importance of Policy Issues in Livestock Sub-Sectors
The performance of the livestock sub-sector and of agriculture in
general in sub-Saharan Africa has been poor over the past two
decades, and in getting worse. The output of livestock products has
grown only slowly, exports and per caput consumption has declined
and imports have risen at a time when the regions can ill afford such
trend. Tables 1.1 provide performance data on the livestock sub-
sectors by the region.

36
Table1.1 The Performance of African’s livestock sub-sectors by

region Annual change (%).

Performance Indicator Sub- West Centr East Southe
Saharan Afric al Africa rn
Africa a Africa Africa

Total Output
Beef 1.5 2.7 2.7 0.9 0.2
All meat 2.5 3.9 1.7 1.8 1.3
Cow milk 3.1 1.5 1.3 3.7 3.0
Per Caput Consumption

Beef -0.9 -0.2 1.6 -1.9 -0.8

All meat -0.4 0.7 0.4 -1.1 -0.4
Dairy product 0.2 -1.5 1.5 1.2 0.1
Imports

Beef -0.4 -0.5 -1.4 1.1 0.2

All meat -0.5 -0.5 -1.4 1.2 0.2
Dairy product 3.9 1.2 7.3 12.1 4.9

Exports

Beef - - - - -
All meat -4.5 -22.2 -45.1 -14.3 -2.7
Source: ILCA (1993).

The causes of this poor performance are complex, and differ from
country to country. In general, four conditions are essential for
satisfactory progress in the livestock sub-sector:
(i) Adequate resources both physical (land, labour, good wealth)
and financial.
(ii) New technology to improve productivity.
(iii) Suitable institutions (for research, extension, marketing,
credit etc).

37
 (iv) Appropriate policies, both in the economy as a whole and
in the livestock sub-sectors.
All or nearly all of the conditions have remained unfulfilled in most
countries of the region over the past two decades. This makes it
difficult to pinpoint exactly how important contributing factor poor
policies have been. Nevertheless, there is some evidence. A 1982
study of 30 livestock project is sub-Saharan Africa financed by a major
donor Over the previous 15 years showed that for more than 75
percent of the projects, policy issues external to them had been major
factors leading to poor performance. In addition, two arguments may
be adduced as follows;
(i) Policy issues and approaches tend to be very similar in the
livestock sub-sectors to those in other agricultural sub-sectors
(food and cash crops). There is now substantial body of evidence
to show that policies have been a major determinant of progress
or the lack of it in these other sub-sectors; it seem highly
probable that the same will be true for livestock.
(ii) An internal review by ILCA of the published evidence
throughout the world on the factors determining throughout
world on the factors determining progress in livestock production
indicated the every large influence of economics factors such as
prices (which are heavily influenced by policy) in comparison
with technology or other factors. What is time of the world in
general is possibly also time of Nigeria. In short, inappropriate
policy has not been the only cause of poor performance, but they
have been an important factor.
Policy Element and Processes in Livestock Sub-Sectors
When analyzing government policy, it is often helpful to distinguish
between two elements which are essential part of any policy. These
elements are:

38
 (i) Policy Objections: These are the “end” of a policy and
reflect the overall purpose or long-term aim(s): (e.g. more beef
exports or farmer access to grazing land).
(ii) Policy Instruments: These are the “means” of a policy, the
action used to carry it out and the methods by which its
objectives are achieved (e.g. imports tariffs on dairy products or
a subsidy on an artificial insemination services). The distinction is
useful because the same objective can be served by several
alternative instruments. It is only by distinguishing between
objectives and instruments that one can begin to assess the
relative efficiency of different instruments. Conversely, a single
policy instrument may affect several policy objectives. For
example, an instrument used to raise dairy price will normally
welfare of the producers and consumers as the level of milk
production. In order to define the role of policy analysis, there is
the need to distinguish between two major policy processes.
These are:
(i) Policy Formulation: This is a process of considering
alternative policy option and deciding to implement one or
several of them.
(ii) Policy Implementation: This is a process of carrying out the
policy (or policies) decided on during the formulation stage.

Within policy formulation, we can further distinguish between policy

analysis and policy making. Policy analysis is the process of
investigating issues and options, and of drawing up and comparing
different proposals. Policy making on the other hand, is the act of
deciding which objectives should be met and selecting the instrument
by which to do so. The purpose of policy is to affect the real world. To
do this, political realities must be fully taken into account. While
imagination - and even a degree of dairy – may be vital ingredients at

39
the policy formulation stage, there is no point in proposing a policy
which is bound to be rejected for political reasons. Policy proposal will
not be accepted – and policies will not be effective, unless they have
the support of prominent politicians and interest groups. Policy
analysts must understand and take into account the concern of
politicians if viable policies are to be formulated. Politics and politicians
are in fact, central to policy issue and should not be viewed as
irritating side –issues, to be ignored whenever possible.

Livestock Policy in the National Development

Livestock production is one of the sub-sectors under agricultural sector
in the national development plan. It has been recognized to bridge the
gap of animal protein deficiency. Emphasis has been on cattle, pigs,
sheep, goats and poultry production while some attention has also
been given to rearing of rabbits. Cattle production has always enjoyed
higher priority over other livestock species. Between (1975 - 80) the
livestock industry took about 15.5% percent to total provision for the
agricultural sector of this about 20% was estimated for the
development of commercial ranches, the allocations are used for the
establishment of pasture and animals installation.

In the area of beef production, the state and federal government

directed efforts towards the establishment of ranches in livestock
breeding. The Federal Government livestock breeding and
improvement centred on the importation of Ndama Cattle from
neighbouring West Africa countries. This breed of cattle was used for
cross breeding purpose in the tsetse fly infested area of the country.
The government also embarked on the establishment of grazing
reserve and the development of pasture. The government helped in
the establishment of pasture, and has reserved 11km2 of grazing area
and constructed necessary assess roads. In Gongola State, reserve

40
 areas were established and five others were surveyed and
demarcated.
Under the national animal help programme about 4.5 million animals
were vaccinated against contagious Bovine pleuro - pneumonia
(CBPD).The various state governments embarked on the establishment
of various clinic investigating centre, control post and purchase of
equipment and drugs.
Major Area of Policy Emphasis
The major areas of policy emphasis of the government is to achieve
self sufficiency in poultry and pork production and substantial
improvement in the production of beef, sheep and goats as well as
encourage small scale livestock farmers all over the country. Others
are:
1. Establishment of large scale feed and livestock multiplication for the
production of parent stocks of poultry and pigs.
2. Subsidization of livestock inputs such as feeds, breeding stock drug,
and equipment etc. livestock producers.
3. Encouragement of private ranching of birds, sheep and goat through
the provision of improved pasture and fodder facilities for facilities for
the grazing. Improved breeding stock and settlement skills for the
nomadic herdsmen.
4. Intensification of veterinary and livestock production extension
services.
5. Provision of more intensive services -such as credit, processing,
storage and marketing facilities to stimulate increases in production.
6. Encouragement of livestock producer co-operative to be involved in
production, processing and market functions.
Under the beef production programme, the federal government would
make provision for the expansion of existing cattle ranching in the
country to accommodate a total of about 32,500 breeding stock by
1985. Four new ranches with a capacity of 60,000 heads of cattle

41
would also be established in different parts of the country for breeding
and fattening purposes. It was also planned that about 167,000 heads
of cattle would be breed and fattened in the cattle producing states
during the five year period. More livestock investigation and breeding
centre as well as artificial insemination centre and equipment will be
constructed and the existing ones be expanded to serve government
and private farms.
Diary Production
At state level attention will be focused on dairy production in 8 states
their activities would include establishment of new farm and
maintenance of the existing one. The new farm would be stocked with
about 2,292 improved local and exotic breeds with high milk yielding
traits. The offspring from these would also be located outside
government specifically directed at obtaining fresh milk from the local
herdsmen to be processed into pasteurized milk, ice cream, skim milk
and condensed milk.
At federal level branches at Kaduna and Minna diary farm would be
expanded in order to attain milk output of about 20,000 litres of milk
per plant annually; new breeds from each farm has a capacity of 600
litres e.g. Friesian cows would be established in four centres to provide
local source of raw materials for the dairy industry.

Grazing Reserves, Pasture Development and Supplement

Foodstuffs Feed schemes
Under the programme 5 million hectares of land would be acquired and
demarcated for pasture development and for the establishment of
livestock service centre in a bid to provide assistance to 10,000
nomadic families to settle down permanently. The service centres
would be established in semiarid guinea and derived savannah zone
and would provide management services treatment facilities, pasture
seed and supplementary feed to farmers at subsidized price. About

42
335,000 tons of supplementary feed were planned to be distributed at
state level, state efforts would be geared towards the establishment of
grazing reserves, production of supplementary feeds and settlement of
the nomadic herdsmen about 1,250,541 ha of new grazing reserves
would be established while the existing one would be maintained for
the supplementary feed programme. Feed mills would be established
to produce about 720,000 tonnes of feed annually while hay
production and forage improvement schemes would be undertaken.
Over 1 million ha of land had been earmarked for resettling the
nomadic herdsmen.

Poultry Production
The Federal Government programme on poultry included provision of
assistance to ten states for expansion of their hatcheries so as to
increase the national annual production of day old chicks to 5 million. A
poultry grand Poultry farming has also transformed from an
unorganized small scale business with low rate of return into a big
profitable industry operating on different scale throughout the country.
parent’s stock farm with a capacity of 20,000 layers would be
established in Jos to produce about 600,000 day old pullets annually.
Similarly, a grandparent farm with a capacity of 20,000 birds will be
established in Port Harcourt to provide 600,000 day old broilers parent
stock annually. Four satellite complexes would be established for
broilers and layers each possessing one parent stock and ten
commercial farms. To ensure readily available poultry and pigs feed
ingredient, the federal government would purchase large quantity of
grains and concentrates to be re-sold to the state to enable them
utilize a greater proportion of their feed capacities to support the
planned poultry and piggery deve1opment programme.The efforts of
local government were to supplement those of the various state
governments which will equally be geared towards the production of

43
more poultry products for the Nigeria markers. New poultry farms
would be established and existing ones expanded. Establishment of
poultry development centre, purchase and installation of feed mills and
incubators and the construction of feed stores would be pursued.
About 120 new poultry farm were to be established by LGA’s involved
in various poultry project.
Pig Production
Development activity were carried out in the Southern States where
efforts were directed towards the expansion of existing units and the
supply of breeding stock of existing units and the supply of breeding
stock to private farmers. The Federal Government planned to establish
two pigs breeding centre and special assistance would be provided to
ten states where pig production and consumption were widely
accepted to enable them execute their planned programme. The Minna
piggery would be re-activated to supply breeders to other parts of the
country, it would hold 1,300 sows to produce 15,000 gilt’s, meat and
bacons. Over 300 pure line sow and 30 boars parent stock would be
established. The Jebba piggery would produce about 150,000 sows
annually. It would have a pig farm feed processing, packaging and
marketing unit.
Sheep and Goat Production
The Federal Government planned centre would be established while
the existing centre at Tuma and Ladnaun would be expanded. The
centre would appropriate sheep and goat husbandry method for
maximum meat production. This programme would involve pasture
development, introduction of better management practice and superior
breed. The commercial ranges each will have a stock of 500 improved
sheep, goats units each. Exotic breed would be imported to cross-
breed the local breed for better quality meat or faster attainment of
slaughter weight while 2,100 hectares of land would be developed for
pastures.

44
Rabbit Production
Eight states had programmes for rabbit production to its advantage as
a prolific breeder and cheap source of animal protein, rabbit production
is giving more attention by a larger number of states during the
planned period than what obtained previously. Breeding, multiplication
and demonstration centres would be established in various locations to
produce more than 90,000 breeders annually for distribution to
interested farmers. In some states, rabbit production would be
established in farm centres under the animal production schemes for
demonstration purposes to indigenes.
Veterinary Services
At L. G. Level, the veterinary services programme includes campaign
aimed at the eradication of contagious bovine plueroneumonia (CBPP).
They would be increased from 40 - 60% of exposed cattle population
during the planned period under animal health programmes. Control of
other Bovine diseases including anthrax, Hermorahagic, black quarter
and Rinderpest would be undertaking. Feasibility study on foot and
mouth diseases control would also be carried out, about 3 - 5 million
small ruminants would be vaccinated against pleuroenthrities and
control measures for both external and internal parasite would be
undertaking. A compulsory vaccination would be administered against
new castle, fowl pox and fowls typhoid disease in poultry.
Quarantine Services
Facilities would be expanded at three international airports while new
ones would be established along Nigerian boarders; inter-state cattle
control posts and a holding centre. Due to the incidence of loses
caused by pests; a permanent control team would continue to be made
available on tsetse fly control through the various on going projects.
“Persistent insecticides would be applied on Glossina spp at their
resting places by the ground spay unit. Three new units will be

45
established in the middle belt and southern states to increase the total
number to eight and each will cover 1,500km annually.

The units would carry out spraying operation and protective measure
around ranches. Trypanosomiasis and tsetse survey would be
conducted in reclaimed area and in the southern part of the country. At
the state level, veterinary service would be given prominent attention.
The major programmes to be executed include, the construction of
about 115 veterinary clinics/sub-clinics and diagnostic laboratories
hospital complexes, rural treatment centre and control post and the
purchase of 17 mobile clinics. Attention would be given to massive
vaccination for protection against CBPP would be undertaken at Local
Government level, about 230 veterinary clinics and veterinary centres
and control post and cattle diseases would be constructed in strategic
areas. Stock routes would also be demarcated in a few states.
Fish Production
The development and modernization of the means of fishing,
processing, storage, marketing etc. by the adoption of improved
technology and management practices. The promotion of export trade
in shrimps, crabs, oysters, periwinkles, turtles etc. The improvement of
the quality of life in fishing villages through the provision of fisheries
infrastructure and basic utilities such as portable water, schools,
electricity, health centres, roads, market etc. The provision and
improvement of employment opportunities in the rural areas by
engaging the rural population and school leavers gainfully in fisheries
and ancillary functions. The acceleration of research on all aspects of
fisheries with a view to determining the potentials and parameters for
development and management. Consolidation and improvement in
existing training programmes designed for the development of the
manpower requirement to help meet the fish production target. The
promotion of fisheries curricula in the nation’s institution of higher

46
 learning, ensuring the proper utilization of all agro-industrial by-
products of crops and animal residues which are found to be suitable
for cultivable fish species.

Major Problems of achieving Livestock Policies in the National

Development Plan.
Although, the third national development plan contains some of the
most progressive measures aimed at alleviating the animal protein
shortage in the country, a number of problems and constraints have
been militating against the realization of the objectives and target of
the programme.
These include:
1) Shortage of various categories, of manpower.
2) Inadequate extension activities due to shortage of trained personnel or
refusal to employ the qualified ones available.
3) Inadequate marketing facilities and marketing information.
4) Inadequate supply, high cost and poor quality feeds and other inputs
5) Shortage of grazing area and water supply and tsetse fly infestation in
the central southern region of the country.
6) Lack of adequate credit facilities especially for small scale producer.
Revision Questions
1. What is livestock farming?
2. List and explain the scope of livestock production
3. Classify and explain livestock sub-sector functions
4. Specifically state the function of livestock sub-sector in Nigeria
5. Enumerate the specific objectives of livestock sub-sector in Nigeria
6. List and discuss the various strategies that can be use to attain
self-sufficiency in livestock production in Nigeria.

47
7. Discuss the major problems that militate against livestock
production in Nigeria
8. Discuss in details the contribution of livestock to peasant farmers
in Nigeria
9. State the six major livestock policy emphasis as contain in the
National Development Plan.
10. Discuss the following fields of livestock production with reference
to livestock policy in the National Development Plan:
(a) Diary production (b) Poultry production (c) Pig production (d) Sheep
and goat production (e) Rabbit production and (f) Fish production
11. What consideration does livestock policy gives to :
(a) Veterinary service (b) Quarantine service and (c) Grazing reserve,
Pasture development and Supplement feedstuff scheme.
12. Discuss livestock policy with reference to National Development
Plan .
13. In a broad sense, state the objective of new Nigeria livestock
policy .
14. Explain the key features of the new livestock policy in the National
Development Plan.
15. List the major content of livestock policy framework.
16. What are the new government policy direction for livestock
production ?
17. Critically discuss the roles of the following stakeholders in the new
livestock policy:
(a) Federal Government (b) State Government (c) Local Government
and (d) Private sector
18. Discuss the key livestock development support and service
programme of the Federal Government
19. Define and explain the term ‘Policy’ as it relate to livestock
production in Nigeria
20. Differentiate between ‘Policy objectives’ and ‘Policy instrument’

48
21. Explain what you understand by Policy processes.
22. Write notes on the following:
(a) Independence objectives (b) Economic efficiency objective (c)
Resource conservation objectives (d) Stability objectives and (e) Equity
objectives

Suggested Further Reading.

1. Addis Anteneh, Standford, S. and Berhanu Anteneh.

(1988):Policy, Finance and Technology in livestock development
in sub-Saharan Africa: Some critical issues. ILCA Bulletin 31:2-
13.ILCA(International Livestock Centre for Africa ),Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
2. Dahi,G. and Hjort,A.(1978):Having herds :Pastorial herd growth
and household economy. Stockholm studies in social
Anthropology 2.Department of social Anthropology.University of
Sweden,Stokeholm Sweden,335pp.

3. Gryseels, G. (1988):Role of livestock on mixed smallholder farms

in the Ethiopian highland. Ph.D thesis,Wageningen Agricultural
University, The Netherlands ,249pp.

4. Sandford, S. (1988); Livestock in the communal area of

Zimbabwe, A report for the Ministry of Land Resettlement and
Development. Overseas Development Institute, London,
UK.169pp.

5. Sandford, S. (1985); Better livestock policies for Africa .ALPAN

(African Livestock Policy Analysis Network) Network Paper 1.ILCA

49
 (International Livestock Centre for Africa) Addis Ababa Ethiopia,
22 pp.

6. Solomon Bekure, de Leeuw P.N Grandin G.E and Neate P.3 H

(1991) Maasi heading: An analysis of the livestock production
system of Maasi. Pastoralists in eastern Kajiado District, Kenya.
ILCA system study 4 ILCA (International Livestock Centre for
Africa) Addis Ababa Ethiopia, 172 pp.

7. Sulter, J.W (1987) Cattle and inequality: herd size difference and
pastoral production among the Fulani’s of the north eastern
Senegal., Africa 57 (2)

8. Wyclkoff J.B and Ngutter L.G.K (1984), Livestock policy

identification and formulation. Theory and practice in Kenya,
Paper presented at the conference on livestock policy issues in
Africa 24 – 28 September 1984, ILCA (International Livestock
Centre for Africa) Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

9. Williams’s T.O (1993) Impact of livestock pricing policies on meat

and milk output in selected sub-Sahara African countries. ILCA
Research Report 20 ILCA (International Livestock Centre for
Africa ) Addis Ababa Ethiopia

50
 ROLE OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION IN NIGERIAN
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT.

AJIBADE A.S

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECHNICAL), AKOKA
LAGOS.

Highlights:

Introduction

Meaning of agricultural extension

Origin of Agricultural extension in Nigeria

Meaning of Agricultural Development

Role of Agricultural Extension in Agricultural Development

Problems of agricultural extension in Nigeria

Solutions to problem of agricultural extension

Revision Questions

INTRODUCTION

Nigerian agriculture is dominated by peasant farmers who reside

in rural communities and engage in primary production raising crops

and animals for food and for sale. Before independent, agriculture was

the most active sector of the economy providing food, employment,

51
raw materials for agro-based industries and export and earning a

significant proportion of foreign exchange. The discovery of crude oil in

the Niger Delta in the early sixties led to a shift from agriculture to

petroleum export. The consequence of this is low productivity. This

situation was further aggravated by factors such as rapid urbanization,

migration of able-bodied men and women from rural to urban areas,

high level of illiteracy among the rural farmers, ineffective rudimentary

farm technology, poor rural infrastructure menace of pests and

diseases and limited access of farmers to land, finance, improved

seeds and breeds of animals agricultural information. The dwindling

agricultural fortunes has had an adverse effect on the economy. One of

such effects is the pressure on the food sub sector to import food for

feeding the teaming population. This also constitute a drain on the

economy.

It has since been realized that no meaningful development can

take place if the declining agricultural productivity is left unchecked.

There is therefore an urgent need to revamp agriculture so that it can

continuously fulfill the traditional role of providing food as well as raw

materials for export. Any effort made in this direction must involve the

transformation of the rural communities so that the bulk of the farmers

who reside there can accept modernization and civilization. It has been

acknowledged that the rate of agricultural transformation is directly

related to the educational standard of the rural communities.

52
Modernization of agriculture must be rooted in an increase in the

general level of education of the rural populace so that they can

handle complex agricultural practices and techniques. Agricultural

education both general and specialized will induce motivation, widen

farmers social and economic horizons and predispose them to greater

receptivity of new innovations and techniques (Ogunfowora, 1981).

MEANING OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENTION

Many authors have attempted various definitions of agricultural

extension. Maunder (1973) defined agricultural extension as a service

or system which assists farm people through educational procedures in

improving production efficiency and income, bettering their level of

living and uplifting the social and educational standard of rural life.

William, Williams and Fenley (1983) defined agricultural

extension as a voluntary out of school education programme for adults

consisting of relevant content derived from researches in the physical,

biological and social sciences synthesized into a body of concepts,

principles and procedures. It employs teaching and learning principles

that affect changes in farmers generally carried out in an atmosphere

of trust and respect between the agricultural extension personnel and

the farmers.

Some authors also equate agricultural extension with technology

transfer. This is however not correct because technology transfer

53
includes the additional functions of input supply and agric services.

Besides this agricultural extension needs to teach farmers

management and decision making skills and also assist rural people in

developing leadership and organizational skills so that they can better

organize, cooperate and participate in cooperatives, credit societies

and support organizations and play active roles in the development of

their local communities, (Swanson and Claar, 1984).

Agricultural extension is a crucial variable for achieving

economic growth and human progress. It has three basic educational

tasks which include dissemination of useful information related to

agriculture and home economics, enhancing practical application of

such knowledge to help farmers and house wives analyze their

problems and bring improvement in a systematic way through

carefully planning and organized programmes and assisting farmers

and housewives in using the technical knowledge gained to solve their

own problems.

ORIGIN OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION IN NIGERIA

The term extension was first used in connection with education

in England over 100 years. Some lecturers in Cambridge University

then used it in describing the method of spreading knowledge from the

institution to a large number of people outside its walls. In the same

54
vein extension was used in connection with agriculture in the United

States of America in 1914. During this period lectures given by the

university lecturers to the public were called extension lectures but

with the passing of Smith Lever Act in that same year the term came

to be used mainly for the non formal education for the farming

community. (Adams, 1982 and Swanson and Claar, 1984 ).

In Nigeria, the colonial government recognized the importance of

agricultural extension as the only means of transferring innovations

and technologies to the African farmers. In 1893 the colonial

administrator established a botanical garden in Lagos for the purpose

of introducing new crops from outside the country and for collecting

indigenous ones. In 1904 the British Cotton Ginning Association

established the Moore Plantation in Ibadan for experimental work on

cotton under R.D. Moore and by 1910 the Department of Agriculture

was created to guide the agricultural training. Agricultural graduates

were trained in Yaba Higher College and the Imperial College of

Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad. On completion they were attached to

experimental stations to learn more research before meeting the

farmers. It was the policy of government then that nobody should

become an extension officer who had not done basic research nor

could any innovation be passed to the farmer without being tested in

the experimental station. Other research institutes such as the West

African Institute for Oil Palm Research (WIFOR) and the Cocoa

55
Research Institute (CRIN) also came on board. Up to independence,

agricultural research achieved some landmarks in developing

rotational bush fallow to replace the shifting cultivation system,

improving soil fertility introduction and improvement of dairy and

cattle and expansion of cocoa, oil palm and groundnut. The major

limitations were lack of publicity and neglect of indigenous food crops.

In 1951, agriculture was regionalized and in 1954 the

Department of Agriculture was created in each region. Each

Department of agriculture had its separate extension and research

division. Agricultural officers were recruited to Mann each of the

political divisions while the zones were manned by agricultural

assistants. The Northern region made tremendous impact in research

while the Western region was foremost in extension. The Eastern

region played no significant role in any of these.

After independence agricultural extension was taken care of in

the National Development plan. The question of manpower training

and needs received more attention. The National Policy on Agricultural

Development emphasized the need to train personnel at both

professional and technical levels which was actively pursued in the

universities and colleges of agriculture. Projections were made over

the years beginning with the Ashby report of 1959. It was also further

emphasized that there was the need to train more extension agents

56
particularly the intermediate grade with the likely expansion of food

and cash crops and to meet the needs of the private sector.

MEANING AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

Akande and Osuntogun (2000) viewed agricultural development as the

shift from traditional methods of production that include new

technological components such as new varieties, cultural practices,

new crops and/or even new farming systems. This process is the

essence of agricultural development and each step in the process will

require educational and or communication inputs”.

Agricultural development can also be seen as the “process by which

continuous increase in agricultural efficiency produces the conditions

which result in general upliftment of the farmers. Upliftment in this

context can be material and quantitative while it can also be

psychological and quantitative; in the latter it is hardly quantifiable.

Thus both the raw materials (physical) and psychological well-being of

a people mutually reinforce each other in process of general

upliftment. Simply put the material progress and the psychic

upliftment of the collectivity of the rural people are indispensable and

constitute elements in agricultural development process” (Adewale,

1997).

If efficiency in agricultural production is to be attained and the peasant

farmers who constitute a bulk of the farming population is to be

57
uplifted, a functional agricultural extension must be provided. It is only

when this is done that a radical change in agricultural development

can take place.

ROLE OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION IN AGRICULTURAL

DEVELOPMENT

Agricultural extension is a veritable tool for widespread and

sustainable agricultural development. Nigeria needs it so as to reduce

the high level of illiteracy among the farming population and liberate

them from ignorance poverty and diseases. The roles of agricultural

extension in agricultural development includes the following:

- Educate the farmers. Agricultural extension is an

educational process with dual goals. It brings information on new

innovations and technologies to farmers. It teaches the farmers

how to use them. It enables the farmers specify their own needs

and provides a feedback on the effectiveness of extension in

meeting them. Through this two way communication between

farmers and researcher, extension can provide effective transfer

of relevant information and technology to farmers. Extension

thus provides the vehicle for increasing agricultural productivity

because it links the farmers with the outside world – the

scientist, the creditor and consumer of his products (Pickering,

1983).

58
- Extension provides the link between farmers and

research institutes. “Agricultural extension elicits information

about farmers concern and problems with different technologies

and convey them to technology centers and research institutes.

The solutions provided to the problems are again brought to

farmers. A partnership is therefore needed between the research

institutes which develop the technology, the extension agency

which transfers technology and the farmers who use the

technology. Extension is most effective when relationships

among the partners encourage dynamic, open communication

and feedback” (Saito and Weidemann, 1990).

- Agricultural extension helps to increase agricultural

productivity and rural income. It achieves this task by

bridging the gap between technical knowledge and farm

practices. Several studies have shown that extension is generally

cost effective and has significant impact on farmers knowledge

and adoption of new technology and hence on farm productivity.

Thus agricultural extension service can improve agricultural

productivity by collaborating with farmers and researchers in

development of technologies (such as cultural practices,

varieties, chemicals and tools) in response to todays rapidly

changing circumstances, providing these technologies to as

many farmers as possible in a timely and accurate manner using

59
a variety of communication and training methods, encouraging

farmers to informally test, adapt and adopt the technologies thus

increasing productivity (Saito, Mekonnen and Spurling 1994). In

Nigeria agricultural extension has greatly influenced the diffusion

of improved technologies relating to cocoa, coffee, rubber,

groundnut and oil palm production.

- Encourage formation of farmers cooperative societies.

Farmers are encouraged to form cooperative societies which are

used as avenue to acquaint members with what is being done to

improve agriculture and to establish local organization and

disseminate agricultural information through publications, public

lectures and newspaper articles. Cooperative societies are

particularly useful in dissemination of information on new

technologies, distribution of farm inputs and establishment of

demonstration farms. Cooperative societies in Nigeria especially

the group farming cooperative societies have reduced the cost of

transferring innovations to farmers. For example, information on

new seeds and other input including methods of application are

imparted during the regular meetings of the societies. Also new

seeds and chemicals are introduced on group farm and

consequently copied and used on individual farms.

- Help farmers locate proper marketing channel. It

supplies marketing information and strategies to farmers. It

60
provides knowledge of pricing policies, use of standard weight,

measures and quantity which price variations may be

determined, marketing forms and other related aspects. Such

information help farmers sell and get a good price for their

produce and also save them from being exploited by middlemen.

- Equip farmers with managerial ability to operate in a

commercial economy. It achieves this by providing training

and guidance to farmers in decision making. In such an economic

situation, prices of products and factors of production have to

guide the farmers in their decisions on farm operation rather

than the quantities of production or utility of products. To

farmers who are largely farming in a subsistence economy this is

a major change and which has to be made if agriculture in

developing countries is to be made increasingly productive.

Agricultural extension helps farmers to develop proficiency in

this type of farm management (Williams, Williams and Fenley,

1984).

- Extension organizes farmers to gain access to farm

inputs such as improved varieties of crops, breeds of

animals, agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, labor saving

devices and loan or farm credit. If farmers obtain and use

these inputs, their productivity is enhanced and they have more

61
food to eat and other produce to sell and make money and

hence their financial security is guaranteed.

- Agricultural extension helps in collecting and collating

basic information relating to the rural economy. Such

information are used for planning, organizing and implementing

auxiliary programmes.

- Persuade farmers to adopt agricultural innovations and

technologies in their farms. Extension gets farmers into a

frame of mind and attitude conducive to acceptance of

technological change. Majority of the peasant farmers who

engage in agricultural production in Nigeria are largely illiterates,

tradition bound and afraid to take risks that will involve them in

great financial loss. They will only accept and use an innovation

if they are convinced beyond all doubts that it is technically

viable, economically feasible and compatible with their farming

system. Through effective training and dynamic agricultural

extension programme new knowledge and technology can be

transmitted and acquired by farmers. Simple change such as

adoption of a new variety of crop involves a minimal extension

input. However if such change involves a new time of planting, a

higher plant population, more fertilizer or the use of pesticides,

farmers may have much to learn to adopt the new technologies.

Therefore the work of agricultural extension no matter how it is

62
 done involves developing the minds of people so that they can

show readiness to venture, try new things – be it creative or

enterprising, take calculated risks, plan ahead wisely and

execute plans confidently.

PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION IN NIGERIA

The following problems tend to render agricultural extension

ineffective in meeting the needs of the farmers.

• Low extension agent to farmer ratio. The situation is such that

we have 1 extension agents to 1000 or more farmers. There is no

way any one working in this kind of condition can be effective.

This may account for the reason why many farmers have not

received the desired attention from the extension agents

assigned to their locality.

• Poor motivation of extension workers. Most of the agents are

poorly remunerated in terms of salary and fringe benefits. This

tends to reduce their morale as well as attitude to work.

• A larger proportion of rural farmers have unfavourable attitude

towards government programmes. This is largely blamed in

failure of government to fulfill some promises made to assist

farmers in areas of finance and inputs. The farmers for this

reason have no confidence in government programmes.

63
• Uncoordinated efforts by government agencies may lead to

confusion and rejection by farmers.

• There is the problem of language barrier. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic

state with diversity in languages spoken. Many extension agents

find it difficult working outside their locality due to language

problems. Language barrier may cause improper dissemination

of information to farmers.

• Inadequate evaluation machinery also makes it difficult

assessing the achievement/success of extension work.

• Poor rural infrastructure: Many rural communities lack motorable

roads. Roads leading to farms are mere footpaths. Extension

agents find it quite difficult visiting farmers in their farms to

attend to their problems.

• Shortage of subject matter specialist. There is dearth of subject

matter specialists available to attend to the needs of the

farmers. This hinders passing the right information to farmers.

• Inadequacy of inputs. The inputs required by extension agents to

do their work are grossly inadequate. The agents may also not

have enough inputs such as improved seeds, stems cutting,

fertilizers and agro chemicals for distribution to his clients on

request. This may hinder adoption of technologies introduced to

the farmers by the extension workers.

64
• Inadequate funding. This affects extension agent in his training

and work. Poor funding renders it impossible obtaining farm

implements necessary for carrying out some tasks on the field.

• Bureaucratic bottleneck. The field workers are often forgotten by

the administration. They prepare reports which are sent to

administration for action. A lot of bureaucratic bottlenecks are

encountered before actions are taken on such reports. This is

largely due to the fact that authority is highly centralized and

decisions have to be referred to headquarters. There are often

cases of delayed action, misrepresentation and neglect of field

workers.

• Inadequate content. Sometimes the content of extension

teachings are borrowed from advanced countries and they tend

to be of little use to our local farmers who may not be able to

apply what is learned to farm practice. Setbacks are encountered

due to inappropriate technology and institutions borrowed from

advanced countries. Many recommended practices have been

insufficiently profitable to justify their inclusion in extension

programmes

• Lack of practical skills. Extension workers often lack practical

ability as a result of poor training and selection. Frequently their

involvement in demonstration plot show how much they learn

from the farmers they are supposed to teach.

65
 • Lack of supporting services. Extension services in developed

countries are aimed at rural societies which are highly

specialized. Usually there, the extension worker is supported by

representatives of commercial firms selling a multitude of

products. The situation in developing is very different. Extension

here is directed to people who are quite poor and illiterates

receiving no support from private commercial suppliers of

agricultural chemicals tools and spare parts.

SOLUTION TO PROBLEM OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION

Extension work must be seen by government as an integral part of the

total effort to improve agriculture. The following steps can be taken to

make extension service effective.

• Government should recruit more extension agents. The ratio of

extension agents to farmers should be 1:350. This is necessary so that

the agents can visit and attend to the farmers.

• Extension work should not be the monopoly of government.

Private individuals and companies should be encouraged to set up

extension and supporting services for the greater public.

• Develop agricultural research centres to set up linkages and

disseminate useful information to the farmers. Such centres should be

involved in the following:

66
- Transformation of research findings into agricultural media

materials with emphasis on electronic and print media;

- Providing radio programmes and other methods of information

device;

- Providing farm management advisory services whereby all

available resources are at the disposal of the farmers;

- Encouraging farmers to form cooperative societies

• Training should be provided for extension staff so as to update

their knowledge. Aspects of practicals should be emphasized in

such training programmes.

• Content of extension teaching should be related to the needs of

the farmers. Appropriate technology could be introduced so that

the farm can readily use them.

• Ensure adequate funding of extension work.

The budgetary allocation to agriculture should be increased and

special attention given to extension.

• Extension workers should be proper

remunerated. Salary for extension agents should be reviewed

upward. Hazard allowance and other fringe benefits should be

given to extension agents so as to motivate them to put the

desired efforts in their job.

• Government should live up to expectation by fulfilling

promises made to assist farmers. This is necessary so as to

67
 make farmers develop interest and confidence in programmes

initiated by government.

• Inputs necessary for effective extension job should be made

available to extension agents timely.

• Rural communities should be provided with the necessary

infrastructure. Access roads should be constructed to link the

villages with the towns. This will enable extension agents

have an easy access to farms where their services are

required.

• Recruit and train subject matter specialist who can pass the

right knowledge and skills to the farmers.

• Bureaucratic bottleneck should be reduced by decentralizing

authority and allowing field officers take some decisions

relating to their work on the field without necessarily referring

them to administration.

Issues relating to extension workers request should be given

the prompt attention they deserve.

• Extension information should be given wide publicity in print and

electronic media. Such information should be presented in local

languages spoken in the area.

• Extension agents should be trained and deployed to work in their

local communities so as to overcome language problem.

68
REVISION QUESTIONS

1.Define the term agricultural extension

2.Trace the origin of agricultural extension in Nigeria

3.Explain the concept of agricultural development

4.Discuss the role of agricultural extension in agricultural

development in Nigeria.

5.Explain the problems of agricultural extension in Nigeria

6.Discuss the steps that could be taken to make agricultural

extension effective in Nigeria.

Suggested Further Reading

Adams, M.E (1982) Agricultural Extension in Developing Countries UK

Longman Group Ltd. PP 7-13.

Adewale, L (1997) “Community Development Education: A Futuristic

Scenario” in fajonyomi, A.A and Biao, I (Eds) Policy Issues in Adult
and Community Education. Maiduguri Mainasara Publishing
Company, pp 58-70

Akande J.O and Osuntogan O.A (2000) Illiteracy Eradication among the
Nigerian farmers for Sustainable Agricultural Development;
Implications for Promoting Adult Education – International Journal
of Continuing and Non – Formal Education 1(1) pp 80 – 88

69
Mannder A.H (1973) Agricultural Extension: a reference manual
(abridge edition) Rome. Food and Agricultural Organization of the
United Nations

Ogunfowora O. (1981) “Educating Rural Communities for Progress” In

S.O Olayide, O. Ogunfowora, S.M Essang and F.S Idachaba (Eds)
Elements of Rural Economics Ibadan University Press Publishing
House. 263 – 276

Pickering D.C (1983) “Agricultural Extension: A Tool for Rural

Development” In Meemea, J Coulter and J, Russell (Eds)
Agricultural Extension by Training and Visit Washington D.C the
World Bank.

Saito, KA. And Weidman C.J (1990) Agricultural Extension for Women
Farmers. Washington D.C. World Bank discussion papers 103 PP 1-
3

Saito, K.A Mekonnen H and Spurling D. (1994) Raising the Productivity

of Women Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington DC World
Bank Discussion Papers African Technical department series 230,
PP 4-13, 60-71

Swanson, B.E and claar I.B (1984) History and Development of

Agricultural Extension in B.E Swaanson(Ed.)Agricultural Extension:
A Reference Manual 2nd Edition Rome Food and Agricultural
organization of the United Nations PP 1-18

Williams, S.K.T Williams CT and Fenley J.M (1984) Manual of

Agricultural Extension Ibadan Shyraden PP 1-7, 10-21.
TRENDS IN AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

OLADIPO, A.S.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION’
FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECH.), AKOKA

Highlights.
-Introduction
-Historical survey
-Present day agricultural policy
-Objectives of agricultural policy
-Features of agricultural policy

70
-Development programs in agricultural policy
-Revision Questions

Introduction
The rate of agricultural development in Nigeria has always been hinged
on the rate of development of the country’s agricultural technology.
Interestingly, since the country’s independence, her agricultural
development has undergone significant fundamental changes and
evolutionary processes that have not improved the sector’s
performance. These changes have been manifested in the significant
shift in emphasis from commercial agriculture in food crop production
(for domestic consumption) and tree crop production (for domestic)
during the early 1960s to food importation starting from late 1970s.
Development economists have always put the blame for this shift in
emphasis on the emergence of petroleum as the chief source of
foreign exchange for the country, and government’s resulting neglect
of the agriculture sector. Within the same period of time, the effect of
new and improved agricultural technologies that, in other countries,
had led to a green revolution has been negligible in Nigeria. Viewed in
retrospect, Nigeria’s agricultural development up to date can be seen
to have evolved in three distinct phases. The first phase covered the
colonial period (1914 – 1959) and the first post independence decade
(1960 – 1969); the second phase spanned the period 1970 – 1984; and
the third phase started from 1985 and has continued to our present
day.

HISTORICAL SURVEY
FIRST PHASE ERA: During the first phase, agricultural
development was almost entirely in the hands of millions of
private sector small scale farmers with minimum direct
government intervention in agriculture. Government support for

71
these farmers has, at the time, largely regional in scope and
character and came in the form of regional government enacting
policies and establishing institutions for research, extension and
crop export/marketing. The federal government contributed only
through agricultural research support. The attitude of
government during that first phase was regarded as a residual
sector in the economy. However, the sector performed well then,
and did not attract any government undue interference up till
1960 after which some regional government established farm
settlement scheme as a way of modernizing agriculture. Soon
after the country’s independence in the 1960, there appeared
sign that the agriculture sector was running into some difficulty.
Such signs included declining export crop production and food
shortage that were at first non-alarming. These signs were, at
the time largely believed to be transitory especially given the
Nigeria civil war that soon provided an acceptable excuse for
poor agricultural performance.

SECOND PHASE ERA: Generally declining and poor

performance in the sector characterized the second phase of
agricultural development in Nigeria, this subsequently, led the
government to fundamentally change its former posture of
almost non-intervention to one of complete control of agriculture.
Government’s raw approach took on maximum intervention in
the form of multi-dimensional direct involvement through
aggressive agriculture policies, programs and projects. It was
during this period of full government involvement that crude oil
was discovered and that provided a good excuse for government

72
to tactfully withdraw from agriculture and leave the plaguing
problem on the sector to the farmers. These began the neglect
of the sector from the 1970’s. Later average attempts by
government through enacting generally ineffective and
unimplemented macro and micro policies did not help the
situation.

THIRD PHASE ERA: The third phase of Nigeria’s agricultural

development has witnessed the ineffectiveness of many of
government’s policies and programs. In order to tackle the
problem, government had to shift from supply-side to demand –
side management policies. These started with the:
• Enactment of an economic stabilization act in 1982 to
control foreign exchange and restrict imports.
• Reduction in capital and recurrent expenditures of
federal and state government.
• Placement of all imports under specific import license in
1984 and
• Declaration in 1985 of a fifteen month economic
emergency period during which several austerity
measures were adopted and specified percentages of
workers salaries and corporate profits were paid to
government. This market the beginning of the
introduction of the structural adjustment programmed
(SAP) that was finally launched in 1986.

At that time agriculture was explained to be the chief corner-

stone of the structural adjustment program and farmers were

73
informed that SAP would provide the best basis for attaining self-
sufficiency food and raw material through increased domestic
production resulting in increased farm incomes of the rural poor.
Unfortunately, the structural adjustment program was not
allowed to run its full course before it was unwittingly terminated
by the Abacha regime. They left the agricultural sector high and
dry such that initial benefit like increased agricultural output,
higher agricultural produce prices, and reduced food prices for
consumers that has started showing quickly turned into hardship
for the ordinary farmers. Many of the farmer laudable policies
and programs that have been put in place to support agricultural
development were abandoned.

Such policies and programs included:-

• agricultural commodity marketing and pricing policy
which set up and operated six commodity boards for
cocoa, groundnuts, palm produce, cotton, rubber and
food grains (maize, miller, sorghum, wheat, rice and cow-
peas).
• Input supply and distribution policy which ensured
adequate and orderly supply of modern agricultural
inputs,
• agricultural input subsidy policy for fertilizer, seed, agro-
chemicals, and tractor-hire services,
• land use policy which controlled land ownership and land
use pattern,

74
• agricultural research policy which concerned the
provision of institutional mechanism for coordinating
research and extension nationally,
• agricultural extension and technology transfer policy
which eradicated the former practice of state-based
agricultural extension and instituted a new country-wide
extension system in which extension personnel were
deployed to specific national programs and projects in
order to facilitate the adoption of new technologies by
farmers,
• agricultural mechanization policy which encouraged the
operation of tractor hiring units by state and substituted
the use of some appropriate forms of mechanical power
for human labour,
• agricultural cooperatives policy which mobilized rural
people for social and economic development through
membership in agriculture cooperatives,
• water resources and irrigation which established eleven
River Basin Development Authorities in 1977 with the
overriding responsibility for developing land and water
resources in the country for agriculture,
• establishment of government – owned companies in the
1970s for producing oil palm, cocoa, grains, roots and
tubers, fish, livestock, etc and
• launching of operation feed the nation (1976 – 1979) and
Green revolution programs (1980 – 1983) to spearhead
increase food production in the country.

75
The last agricultural policy document that was produced, adopted
and launched by the Babangida administration in 1988 for a
fifteen year implementation span has remained in the shelves of
officials of the federal ministry of agriculture without being used
as the agricultural development guide it is intended to be.
Administration after administration since Babangida has ignored
the policy document and the programs and strategies
recommended for achieving the stated policy objectives.

The picture of the agricultural sector in 1999 when President

Olusegun Obasanjo came into office was not a rosy one as the
sector had become unattractive, with low profitability and no real
incentives for investors. The government has tried to change the
situation by pushing in place the National Economic
Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) in March 2004.
This is supported at the state levels by the State Economic
Empowerment Development Strategy (SEEDS) with initiatives in
areas of Cassava, rice, vegetable oil, sugar, livestock and
fisheries, tree crops and cereals.

Nigeria’s Agricultural Policy Today-a Summary.

The first national policy on agriculture was adopted in 1988 and
was expected to remain valid for about fifteen years, that is, up

76
to year 2000.The new agricultural Policy came in 2001 during
Obasanjo regime.

Objectives of the Policy includes:-

i) Attainment of Self-sufficiency in basic food commodities
with particular reference to those which consumer
considerable shares of Nigeria’s foreign exchange and for
which the country has comparative advantage in local
production.
ii) Increase in production of agricultural raw materials to
meet the growth of our expanding industrial sector;
iii) Increase in production and processing of exportable
commodities with a view to increasing their foreign
earning capacity and further diversifying the country’s
export base and sources of foreign exchange earnings.
iv) Modernization of agricultural production, processing,
storage and distribution through the infusion of improved
technologies and management so that agriculture can be
more responsive to the demands of other sectors of that
Nigeria economy.
v) Creation of more agricultural and rural employment
opportunities to increase the income of farmers and rural
dwellers and to productively absorb an increasing labour
force in the nation;
vi) Protection and improvement of agricultural land
resources and preservation of the environment for
sustainable agricultural production;

77
 vii) Establishment of appropriate institution and creation of
administrative organs to facilitate the integrated
development and realization of the country’s agricultural
potentials.

Development Programmes In The Agricultural Policy.

i) Research and Development Including
Biotechnology:- The effort in this direction is to finance
agricultural research including bio-technology and
breeding of predators for biological control of crop pest.
The output of the research system would be
disseminated by extension services of states and local
governments to farmers.
ii) Animal Vaccine Production:- The objective is to raise
the level of vaccine production in Nigeria to self
sufficiency status and to also later for the entire West
Africa Sub-region. Towards this end, the premier
institution, for animal vaccine production in the sub-
region, The National Veterinary Research Institute (NVR)
at VOM, would be strengthened, enlarged and
modernized to actualize this objective under a three year
programme.
iii) Agro-Chemical Manufacture:- The effort in this
direction is to manufacture and promote the production
of agro-chemicals by the private sector and to ensure the
protection of the users, the eco-system and the
environment. Effective mechanism to ensure compliance
with the law is put in place.

78
 iv) Water Management:- The objective is shift to
development of small dams as a more cost effective way
of utilizing water resources for irrigation in the country.
The maintenance of the existing large dams will continue
to be the responsibility of the Federal Government.
Moreover, rain harvesting for irrigation, is to be promoted
where surface and underground water is not readily
available.
v) Adaptive Technology:- This is geared toward
improving the efficiency of production, a simple labour
and cost saving devices that are appropriate for the
current level of agricultural production and processing in
the country will be developed and mass produced. The
National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM),
established for the purpose will be strengthened with
animal traction and hand tools technology development
encouraged.
vi) Agricultural Development Fund:- This is to provide
the necessary impetus for the sustainable development
of the agricultural sector with emphasis on all facets of
agricultural research, market development, extension
delivery, long-term credit, rural institutions development
and enterprise promotion.

Revisions Questions
1) Briefly trace the phases of agricultural
development’s policy in Nigeria.

79
 2) Distinguish the essential features that differentiate
the respect levels.
3) Discuss the solutions to the neglect of agricultural
sector by the government in the second phase era.
4) What re the differences in the declaration made
between 1982 to 1986.
5) Enumerate the policies and programs to support
agricultural development that were abandoned.
6) What are the benefits of Agricultural Technology
Policy to National Development?
7) What are the benefits of the Agricultural
Development Programme (ADP) to the Agricultural
sector?
8) Discuss briefly the areas cover by the policy of
Agricultural Development.
9) How would the Development Programs revive
Agricultural Production?

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING.

Agricultural in Nigeria: The new policy thrust. http://arcnigeria.org
policy . htm

Akanji, O.O. Ofu, M.F., Essien, E.A. nd Onwioduokit, E.A. (1999):

http://arcnigeria. Orglagricpolicies,htm. Issues in
Agricultural input policy: An empirical evaluation of fertilizer
production distribution and price subsidy in Nigeria.
Research and International Economic Relation Department
Monography, CBN. 8-10.

Aribisala, T.s.B (1983): Nigeria green revolution: achievement,

Problem and Prospect: Distinguished lecturer No 1, Nigeria

80
 Institute od social and Economic research (NISER), ibadan,
Nigeria.

Bukar Shaib, Adamu Aliyu and Bakshi, j.B. (1997): Nigeria

National Agricultural research Strategy Plan: 1996 – 2010
(5-15).

Development Policy Centre (DRC) (1977): Economic Intelligence

Food Price: Past, Present and Future No. 2, July.

Evenson, E.R. (1982): Benefits and Obstacles of Appropriate

Agricultural Technology. Yale University, Economic Growth
Centre. SAGE Publication, INC 275, South Beverly Drive Hills
California 90212 (54 – 63).

Olayemi, J.K. (1998): Food Security in Nigeria Research Report

No.
2. Development Policy Center (DPC), Ibadan, Nigeria.

Pardey, P., Rosebiom G.T. and Anderson (Eds) (1991). Agricultural

Research Policy: International quantitative Perspective,
University Press.

The World Bank (1981): Accelerated Development in Africa: An

Agenda for Action, Washington, DC, USA.

81
PROBLEMS OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT IN
NIGERIA
IBIYEMI, E.O.
FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECHNICAL), AKOKA,
LAGOS.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

Highlights:
• Introduction
• Problems of Livestock Production in Nigeria and Suggested
Solutions
• Review Questions
• Further Reading

INTRODUCTION

Livestock are kept primarily for subsistence or commercial production

in Nigeria. They include cattle, sheep, goat, pig, poultry and rabbit.
They are kept on the farm for productive purposes. These may mean
the sale of meat, milk, eggs or wool, or may concern the use of these
stock products at home. In addition to these saleable commodities,
other products such as hides, manure, draught and social prestige can
be included when livestock are kept for home use.

Since livestock are kept for their products, good husbandry demands
that they are cared for in such a manner that they will produce to the
highest possible level with the management available. This means
that the housing and feeds should be those that will provide for
optimum production. This in turn has necessitated sound knowledge
on basic principles and practices of livestock production so as to
achieve and maintain higher levels of productivity.

PROBLEMS OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA AND

SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS.

82
Many factors are responsible for low livestock production in Nigeria
that is characterized by poor weight gain of the animals, low
productivity of meat, eggs and milk and poor reproductive ability.
These factors include:

1. Poor Productivity of Indigenous Livestock: The growth of

animals indigenous in Nigeria has been retarded due to a
number of problems. The animals are small in size, have high
mortality during the growth period. They reach market or
slaughter (mature) weight slowly and are generally low
producers. It is this low productivity that has seriously limited
available protein in Nigeria.

Solution: Crossbreeding, upgrading and other breeding programmes

should be carried out using exotic breeds noted for high productivity.

2. Poor System of Animal Husbandry and Management: This

includes inadequate provision of feeds and water,
overstocking/overcrowding, inadequate ventilation, poor sanitary
conditions and exposure of animals to extreme climatic
conditions. The employment of cheap untrained attendants
result in inefficient management and unprofitable operations.

Solution: Practice good animal husbands and management system.

There is also the need to train the attendants on efficient husbandry
and management systems to be adopted.

2. Feed: The problem of feed is one of the most serious

problems facing the farmers. At a given level of management
and disease control, livestock production is a function of the
level of feeding. Nutrient requirements for various classes of

83
 livestock have been well documented in the temperate
regions when compared to the tropical regions (developing
nations). Formulation of livestock ration is therefore based on
the nutrient requirement data from these regions
(temperate). Also, little work is done on the incor[poration of
locally available agricultural and industrial by-products into
livestock ration. There may also be the problem of
adulteration of feed by feed millers. The compounded feed is
very expensive and some of the ingredients used are difficult
to be sourced for. There is also the problem of grazing and
watering especially for ruminant animals. The animals
depend mostly on the natural grassland for the supply of
required nutrients for maintenance and production. The grass
species are mostly annuals of very poor feeding quality. This
low feeding quality is largely responsible for the poor
performance of the animals as measured by growth and
productivity. The poor condition of the grassland is further
aggravated by the unusal droughts, which occur from time to
time. The climatic conditions also place serious limitations on
both the quality and quantity of available grasses to the
extent that most animals lose weight during periods of
scarcity and some even die as a result of inadequate grazing.

Solution:
(i) Feeds should be compounded based on the nutrient
requirements of different classes of livestock in the tropics.
(ii) Locally available agricultural and industrial by-products should
be incorporated into livestock ration as substitute to
conventional feeds ingredients.
(iii) Well formulated and unadulterated concentrate feed should be
fed to farm animals to ensure increased production.

84
(iv) Establish and maintain a pasture.
(v) Government should also provide adequate grassland for farmers.
4. High Incidence of Diseases, Pests and Parasites:- There is
a high prevalence of infectious and parasitic diseases that affect
livestock resulting in their low productivity. Diseases such as
rinderpest and trypanosomiasis affect ruminant livestock while
Newcastle disease of poultry can wipe out the whole flock. The
nomadic system also offers opportunities for the spread of contagious
diseases such as rinderpest, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
(CBPP), anthrax and foot and mouth disease (FMD).

Solution:
(i) Vaccination programme against diseases should be embarked
upon by the farmers. They must not skip any vaccination
schedule.
(ii) Ensure good sanitation and maintain hygienic conditions on the
farm.
(iii) The farmers should adopt an appropriate control measure
whenever there is an occurrence of pests and diseases.
(iv) The farmers should use animals that are tolerant to pests,
parasites and diseases.
(v) Effort should be geared towards the control and total eradication
of deadly diseases of livestock.
(vi) More vaccines production centers should be sited in the country
by the government.
(v) Manufacturers of drugs and vaccines from abroad should be
encouraged to site their manufacturing industries in Nigeria.

5. Transportation (Marketing and Distribution): Ruminant

livestock production is majority carried out in the north and these
animals have to be transported to urban centers in the south for

85
 sale. Different means of transportation employed include
trekking and by trucks. The deplorable road condition in Nigeria
hinders transportation of livestock and products to the market.
This causes delay in arrival of the products to the market and at
times leads to wastage. Vehicles are also inadequate for use,
and when available, they may be in bad condition. Cost of
transportation is high, thus leading to high cost of production and
selling price, which eventually result into low demand of products
and consequently low profit margin.

Marketing as a constraint to livestock production in Nigeria arises

mostly from inadequate provision for planned production. There
are no arrangements for parallel marketing and processing
facilities to take care of output on time and also to eliminate the
chain of exploitative middlemen within the system.

Solution:
(1) Government should rehabilitate existing roads and construct new
ones linking the rural areas to the urban centers (i.e. the farm to
the market).
(ii) Spare parts must be readily available for the regular servicing
and maintenance of vehicles used in transportation of farm
produce.
(iii) More agro-based industries that use livestock products, as raw
materials should be sited so that livestock farmers will be rest
assured of immediate market for their products. This will
generate more employment opportunities and encourage many
people to invest in livestock production.

6. Shortage of Qualified Personnel:- Livestock production

enterprise requires a large team of different professionals, all

86
 working together to ensure that the production, marketing and
distribution system operate efficiently. There is acute shortage
of qualified personnel and underutilization of qualified manpower
at all levels of livestock production in Nigeria.

Solution:
(i) More qualified personnel should be trained in our higher
institutions and research institutes.
(ii) Incentives should be given in form of scholarships to
encourage would-be animal scientists and veterinarians.

7. Land: This is the uppermost layer of the earth crust on which

agricultural and non-agricultural activities are carried out. Large
area of land is needed for livestock production especially
ruminants. The land tenure system (command, inheritance or
leasehold) constitutes a problem to adequate livestock
production. It leads to fragmentation of land and does not make
it easily available for large-scale production. Prospective farmers
find it difficult to acquire enough land because of the system.
Individuals who have no interest in livestock production may also
hold the land. Land is also scarce and very expensive to
purchase.

Solution:
(i) Government should provide adequate land for farmers to
practice.
(ii) The land use act should be well implemented so that individuals
will have access to land easily.

8. Inadequate Capital /Credit Facilities: The financial status of

the farmer is poor, as a result of this; he is unable to meet up

87
 adequately with daily expenses on the farm. Would-be farmers
are also hindered due to inadequate capital, since livestock
production is highly capital intensive. The risk that is involved
hinder banks from granting loans to livestock farmers. High
interest rate charged by banks also discourage farmers from
requesting for loans.

Solution:
(i) Farmers should form cooperative society in other to pool
resources together for the benefit of members and to gain better
attention of banks and other credit-lending agencies.
(ii) Granting of loans /credit facilities to farmers with reduced
interest rate.
(iii) Farmers can also borrow money from friends, relatives and
money lenders.

9. Inadequate Dissemination of Research Findings/Poor

Funding of Research Institutes: There is very application of
research results to animal production. The flow of information to
farmers is not direct because of inadequate extension workers.
There is therefore a communication gap between agricultural
institutions, research institutes and the livestock farmers. The
government also poorly funds the universities and other research
institutes. This negatively affects research work and
dissemination of the findings.

Solution
(i) More extension workers must be trained and given adequate
incentives to be able to go to the farmers and demonstrate new
innovations and disseminate research findings to them promptly.

88
(ii) Seminars, workshops, summit and conferences can be organized
for farmers in collaboration with universities and research
institutes.
(iii) Government must adequately fund universities and research
institutes.
(iv) Livestock programmes can be sponsored on radio, television and
print media by individuals, government and non-governmental
organizations.

10. Poor Animal Breeding Programmes: In temperate regions,

animal breeding programmes are well planned and organized.
This is not so in the developing countries such as Nigeria. There
is poor animal breeding selection programmes and inadequate
information on the genetic worth of different breeds.

Solutions:
(i) Animal breeding programmes such as crossbreeding, upgrading
etc should be well planned and organized by animal breeders.
(ii) Government should support this programme by providing the
necessary facilities and funds.

11. Inadequate Infrastructural Facilities:- Farmers need social

amenities like electricity, hospitals, pipe-borne water and good
communication network etc to live comfortable. The absence of
these facilities affects their productive capacity and result in
rural-urban migration, thus reducing farm labour.

Solution:
(i) Government should ensure the provision of these facilities in
all areas in Nigeria.

89
 (ii) The farmers should construct boreholes and purchase
generator for use on the farm.
(iii) The Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) should be
made readily affordable by the government.

12. Political Instability And Government Policies: Political

instability, changes in leadership, and inconsistent government
policies affect development of livestock production. The
planning and policy formulation of the government has generally
not been done with objectivity, neither has implementation been
carried out with commitment. There is no continuity in policy
formulation and implementation with successive governments.
There is bureaucracy, corruption and embezzlement of funds in
government administration. Policy formulation has remained a
general problem, with the consequent effect on the entire
economy, which in many cases can be described as unplanned.
And even where attempts have been made at livestock policy
formulation, policy coordination has been difficult owing
principally to the fact that central planning is lacking throughout
the national economy. The resulting conflicts create
impediments for the livestock sector most of whose inputs such
as feed grains, supplements, vaccines, drugs and equipment, are
derived from outside the sector.

Solution:
(i) Government must ensure political stability and prevent
unnecessary heat up of the polity in the country.
(ii) There must be commitment on the part of the government to
implement formulated policies concerning livestock
production.

90
 (iii) Corrupt individuals who embezzle funds must be dealt with in
accordance with the law of the land.

13. Low Literacy Level / Education of The Farmers: Some of

the farmers lack basic knowledge of livestock husbandry and
management system needed for effective and efficient livestock
production.

Solution:
(i) Literacy programme (training) in livestock production should
be organized for the farmers.
(ii) They should be encouraged to attend seminars, workshops,
summit and conferences in livestock production.

14. Climate: This is the average weather condition of a

place measured over a period of time. Factors of climate
include rainfall, wind, temperature, relative humidity
and solar radiation. Livestock production is affected by
these factors; for instance, high temperature and
relative humidity is conducive to proliferation of pests
and disease pathogens that reduces the performance of
livestock. High temperature may be harmful and
causes sudden death in livestock. High intensity of
solar radiation causes heat stress in farm animals and
thus reduces their growth, production and reproduction.
High relative humidity also affects food intake and
productivity of livestock. Livestock production is also
affected by the variations in temperature and relative
humidity. Maximum productivity can be achieved only
at a particular range of temperature and relative
humidity.

91
Solution:
(i) Livestock should be kept at temperature and relative humity
optimum for production and avoidance of heat stress.
(ii) Consider the climatic condition of the place before embarking
on rearing a particular livestock because rainfall in particular
determines the vegetation types found in different parts of
Nigeria, which in turn determine the types of livestock that
can be raised in the different ecological zones. Much animal
rearing does not take place in heavy rainfall areas because of
high humidity and tsetse fly infestation.
(iii) Provide adequate ventilation for the comfort of farm animals.

REVISION QUESTIONS
1(a) List and explain ten (10) problems of livestock production in
Nigeria. (b) Suggest two (2) possible solutions to each problem.
3. Discuss ten (10) factors that are responsible for low livestock
production in Nigeria and suggest two (2) possible solutions to
each.

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING

Desmond, H. (1988). Cattle and Buffalo Meat Production in the Tropics.
Longman Group UK Ltd.

Ibraheem, K. (2005). Basics of Livestock Production Kalyani Publishers,

New Delhi.

Job, A. (2000). Effective Poultry Feed Production and Supply. Nig.

Poultry
Science Journal. Vol. 1, 18.

Mc. Nitt, J.I. (1983). Livestock Husbadary techniques. Granada

Publishing Ltd London.

Ositelu, G.S. (1981). Animal Science. Cassel Ltd. London.

92
 THEORIES OF GROWTH AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
T.T. AWOYEMI

Department of Agricultural Economic

University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

Highlights:
• The Distinctions between Growth and Development
• Theories of Growth and Development
- The classical and New-Classical Theory
- The basic Resource Theory
- Internal combustion Theory
- The Dual Economy Theory
- The Export-led growth Theory
- The Urban Industrial Impact Theory
- The High Input pay off Theory
- Diffusion Theory of Rural Development
- Induced Development Theory.

93
 • The contribution of the Theories to Agricultural Development.
• Revisions Questions.

Introduction
This Chapter draws extensively on the work of Essang (1975) on
Growth Models and Rural Development. In this chapter we shall
undertake a brief review of some of the economic growth theories
which are used to explain the process of economic and rural
development in the less developed world. The primary objective of
this review is to assess the extent to which these theories throw light
on the rural development problems faced by policy makers in the less
developed countries. Before discussing these models, however, it is
essential that we clarify the distinction between economic growth and
economic development since much of the confusion in academic
discussion and policy making circles is due, in a large measure, to the
failure to make a clear distinction between these concepts.

The Distinction between Growth and Development.

Economic growth is defined as an increase in per capita real income
over time. In this definition, nothing is implied as to the sources of the
increase in per capita income, or the character of factors of production
and infrastructural facilities. Economic development, on the other
hand is defined as the process whereby the real per capita income
increases over time through changes in the quality and quantity of
productive factors, and the institutionalization of the growth process.
In particular, development implies not merely the growth of per-capita
real income, but also its distribution, the sources of growth, the
development of infrastructure, and administrative framework essential

94
to sustained and cumulative growth. As such, it is a much broader
concept than economic growth.

The distinction between economic growth and development is

important in several respects. First, it suggests that a country may be
ranked very high in the scale of economic growth and yet be found at
the bottom of the scale when the criteria of development are used.
Second, if a country is interested primarily in economic growth, it may
not bother very much about the process by which it is achieved. This
has implications for rural development strategy in the less developed
countries. Many countries in their quest for higher per capita incomes,
adopt a development strategy which emphasizes capital intensive and
large scale projects in the industrial as well as in the agricultural
sectors. Consequently, though these countries achieve high growth
rates of per capita incomes, they are plagued by problems of
unemployment and inequitable income distribution. Third, the failure
to distinguish between growth and development partly explains the
nature of disappointed expectations characteristic of countries in the
under-developed world. For while the leaders of these countries
appear committed to development, they very often embark on policies
which foster the growth in per capita incomes at the expense of
development. For instance, they often fail to make adequate
investment in the training of man power, or the building of rural
infrastructure, consequently, they usually discover, much to their bitter
disappointment, that in spite of years of development planning, the
rural sector is still stagnant, there is still an acute shortage of skill and
they still have to import virtually all their non-farm consumption and
capital goods.
Manifestations of Growth:
• Increase in Gross Domestic Product(GDP)
• Increasing Economic activities in terms of production

95
 • Increasing in population leading to decrease per capital income
• Export promotion drive to stimulate back exportation of
agricultural product.

Manifestations of Development:
• Infrastructural development and distribution
• Increase awareness of poverty reduction measures
• Some welfare indicators e.g. health facilities, electricity, access
to good motorable roads, availability of portable water etc.
• Quality initiatives foster even an equitable distribution of income.
The general awareness that income should be equitably
distributed is a mark of development.
• Appropriate records of factors production through market
liberalization for their worth.
• When productivity is matched with earning.

Theories of Growth and Their Relevance.

The Classical and Neo-Classical Theory: According to the classical
and neo-classical economists, the growth of any economy, whether
rural or non-rural is a function of capital investment and employment
of labour. However, capita tends to flow into sectors characterized by
high rates of return and high marginal productivity of capital. Labour
similarly moves into a sector characterized by high wage rates. From
this emerges the classical and neo-classical proposition that, to
promote economic growth in the rural areas, it is necessary to
undertake measures which will raise the rate of return to capital
investment and the earnings of labour.

To a certain extent, the classical and neo-classical model has

relevance for rural development in the less developed areas such as

96
Nigeria where out-migration of labour and capital from agriculture is
usually attributed to much lower returns to these factors of production
in rural than in urban investments. Nevertheless, the model has a
number of limitations. First, it ignores the importance of improved
quality of labour as a factor in economic development. Yet it is a well
known fact that in both the developed and the less developed
countries, agricultural and economic development is positively related
to the quality of the labour force. Second, the model ignores the role
of communities services and infrastructure which by generating
external economics, account for high rates of return to capital
investments. Third, the classical and the non-classical model places an
exaggerated emphasis on factor and input prices as a determinant of
investment and growth, thereby ignoring the role of institutional and
organizational arrangements. Even if the prices of input and output
were to give perfectly accurate signals to entrepreneurs, it would still
be necessary to devise appropriate institutional frame work to facilitate
the mobility of resources and raise the incentives of entrepreneurs and
other productive factors. In practice, owing to market imperfection the
present of externalities and the magnitude of development efforts,
planning and organization are essential not only for resource
mobilization, but also for allocation of the resources in the interest of
greater efficiency and equity. Finally, the classical and neo-classical
model ignores the crucial role of technology which, by shifting the
production function to the right, tends to reduce cost and increase the
rate of return to capital investment.

The Basic Resource Theory: The basic resource theory states that
economic growth depends on (a) the presence, (b) the quality, and (c)
magnitude of basic natural resources within particular areas or
economic regions. The development of these resources attracts

97
investment capital to these areas, and increases income and
employment.

There is considerable truth in the proposition of the basic resource

model. In any part of the world, economic development consists, at
least in the initial stages, in efforts to exploit the readily available
natural resources. Within a particular country, regions or areas with
basic resources tend to have a higher income and to grow faster than
those with meager resources. In Nigeria, the cocoa, groundnut and
cotton growing areas of the country experience, until recently, much
faster growth than the resource poor areas. At present the States in
the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria are experiencing rapid economic
growth based on the production of a highly valuable resource –
Petroleum.

However, it would be wrong to assume that the mere availability of

basic resources is a sufficient guarantee of rapid growth. Instances
abound where regions or countries continue in stagnation despite the
availability of basic resources. In colonial territories, poverty and
stagnation co-existed with the existence and exploitation by the
colonial entrepreneurs of mineral and other resources. In the U.S.A.,
the Tennessee region remained for long an economic back-water
despite the availability of resources. On the other hand, both the
Israelis and the Japanese have demonstrated that scantiness of basic
resources need not constitute an insuperable barrier to development,
so long as the available man power is of a high technical quality and is
strongly motivated. In short, what really counts in the long run is not
availability of basic resources. It is the existence of a technically
competent labour force and a leadership strongly dedicated to the
objective of economic development.

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Another limitation of the basic resource theory is that it does not
sufficiently emphasize the operation of diminishing returns. This
failure is unfortunate since most natural resources are characterized
by diminishing returns to labour or capital in the face of rapid
population growth and essentially static production technology.
Besides, in many countries, the exploitation of basic resources is
undertaken without regulation and with no thought of conservation – a
circumstance which intensifies the operation of diminishing returns.

The third limitation of the basic resource theory is its abstraction from
technological change. In practice, the role of natural resources in
promoting development is a function of technological change. For
instance, much of the impact of petroleum production on economic
development owes a lot to petroleum technology, geology and
hydrology. The use of water for hydro electric power is purely a
function of technology – developments in the areas of hydro-statics
and dynamics. Similarly, the dramatic expansion in agricultural
exports is made possible by technological developments which reduce
transport cost and widens export market possibilities.

Internal Combustion Theory: Internal combustion theory attributes

economic growth and development to forces within the region or
country other than the presence of basic natural resources. These
internal sources of growth include technology, specialization,
economics of scale and the existence of growth stimulating
institutional, political and administrative arrangements. The message
of this theory is that the requirements of growth can be deliberately
created, or modified. As such growth can occur in any region or
country of the world.

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As a description of historical experience, the internal combustion
theory has several short-comings, however. It is only in exceptional
circumstances that, in the absence of basic resources, appreciable
economic growth occurs purely as a consequence of internal
processes. What usually happens in practice is that in the attempt to
exploit basic resources, entrepreneurs are compelled to become
creative and inventive. For example, in countries with plentiful supply
of land, the attempt to use the land fully encounters a bottleneck by
way of labour scarcity and high wages. To break this bottleneck,
entrepreneurs produce labour saving technology. It need not be
stressed that apability without opportunities is of little account.
Certain economies may have people of inborn entrepreneurial and
technological capacity. But these talents will avail nothing unless
opportunities for exercising them are available. A brilliant farm
manager will remain ineffective and unable to contribute to
development unless there is adequate land for commercial farming in
the region. Moreover, world economic history shows that though
internal forces are important, they are not always crucial. On the other
hand, external forces tend to exert a critical influence on the pace of
development. Among such forces are the emergence of foreign
demand for the products of the developing country, the influence of
externally created technological ability, government intervention which
comes outside the economic systems and industrial and technological
revolution. In any case, countries are so increasingly influenced by
external forces that development in any part of them cannot proceed
in isolation from external influences. This fact is acknowledged by the
external combustion theory according to which economic development
owes a lot of external influences.

The Dual Economy Theory: In the dual economy theory typical less
developed country is characterized by the existence of two distinct

100
sectors, namely, the modern sector and the subsistence (rural) sector.
While the modern sector is market oriented and uses considerable
capital equipments and technology, the subsistence sector produces
for family consumption and relies on non-purchased inputs such as
family labour and land for production. Unlike the modern sector, the
subsistence sector is characterized by absence of savings and capital
formation – a circumstance which, along with the virtual absence of
technology, largely explains why the productivity of labour is very low
and why resources are underutilized in this sector.

Given the above characteristics of the two sectors, the authors of the
dual economy theories had no difficulty in prescribing what to them
the most appropriate development strategy was. This strategy
consisted in concentration of resources from the subsistence sector for
this purpose. It was believed that this strategy would ensure
cumulative growth of incomes, employment and rapid structural
transformation of the underdeveloped economies. Indeed, Ranis and
Fei were at pains to emphasize that as development proceeded in the
modern sector, a time would arrive when surplus labour would cease to
exist in the subsistence sector. At this point, government was to
undertake measures to raise labour productivity in the subsistence
sector in an effort to prevent inflationary prices of farm products from
putting a damper on the process of industrialization of the urban areas.

In one respect, the dual economy theories sketched above resemble

the classical and neo-classical theory in their emphasis on the need to
channel resources to the growing and more dynamic sector where
returns to investment are presumably higher. As a guide to rural
development, however, the theories have very serious short-comings.
First the theories do not give an accurate representation of the
structure and performance of a typical underdeveloped economy.

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There are no countries where the agricultural (subsistence) sector is
characterized to the small and fast growing industrial sector, the
savings and capital formation in the rural sector is quite small. But this
is not to say that there are no savings and capital formation. Second,
the authors of these theories have a very narrow conception of
development which they view as a process of concentrating resources
on already developed areas. As the experience of most developing
countries shows, such a strategy does not lead to development. This is
because the resulting neglect of the rural areas where the vast
majority of the population live crease a situation where food and raw
material shortages and low income and inflation of food prices
adversely affect both demand and cost structure and therefore impede
the process of industrial development. In addition, the concentration
of efforts on the dynamic sector in line with the prescriptions of the
dual economy models causes a gap in the earnings of urban and rural
resources and contributes to the outflow of the capital and labour
resources from the rural to the urban areas. The effect of all this is
massive unemployment in urban areas, tremendous demand for urban
social services and the diversion of scarce funds from productive
investments to the provision of costly social services. Third, the dual
economy theories assign a very restricted role to agriculture. In the
opinion of the authors of these models the role of agriculture is to
serve the ends of industrialization via the provision of cheap food,
cheap raw materials, and the release of labour and other resources. It
is not realized that a strategy of cheap food, cheap raw materials and
cheap labour has adverse effects on rural purchasing power and can
seriously undermine the capacity of agriculture to play the very limited
role prescribed for it. Fourth, the theories generally mislead policy
makers in the underdeveloped countries by emphasizing and even
exaggerating the capacity of urban industries for cumulative growth.
This emphasis rests on assumptions regarding entrepreneurial ability

102
of urban industrialists, the capacity of urban industrialists for savings
and investments of profits and the availability of worthwhile and
profitable investments projects in the urban areas of the
underdeveloped countries. However, the development experience of
most less developed countries bears ample testimony to (i) the
scarcity of real entrepreneurial talents in these countries (ii) the
inability of most urban industries to make substantial profits despite
their monopoly of the domestic markets (iii) the very small value
added in a number of manufacturing industries (iv) the tendency for
most of the profits to be sent away as dividends to foreign share
holders and (v) the failure of industries to train a sizeable number of
local skills and generate employment. Faced with this disappointing
record, policy makers in the less developed nations are now
employment in their economies. To carry out this task, what they need
is a model which accords a role to rural development in its own right
and not as an appendage of industrial development.

Export-Led Growth Theory: Export led-growth theory explains

economic development in terms of the emergence and expansion of
markets for export production. According to Myint, the foremost
exponent of this view, the opening of markets in other parts of the
world expanded the demand for exports whose production was
intensive in the use of the abundant land and labour resources of the
less developed economies. This led to a fuller utilization of previously
underutilized land and labour. The result was cumulative growth in
incomes, employment and government revenue. The expansion of
exports also induced investment in infra-structural facilities such as
ports, roads, railways, and banking institutions which are essential to
growth.

103
The export-led growth theory pretty well explains the process of
economic development in many African and Latin American countries,
at least in the early stages. In West Africa, economic growth was
closely associated with expansion of agricultural exports until the
middle of the sixties when petroleum assumed a dominant role in
Nigeria. Despite the oil boom, the Nigerian governments are alive to
the close association of agricultural exports with farm incomes and
employment in many Nigerian states. Accordingly agricultural strategy
still emphasizes export expansion in the country – in line with the
prescriptions of the export-led growth model.

As a guide to policy makers grapping with rural development problems

in the second half of the twentieth century, however, the export-led
growth model is defective in important respects. By assuming the
existence of a perfectly elastic export demand for agricultural exports,
the model ignores the crucial question of demand and market access
for the agricultural exports of the less developed countries. Yet in
practice, most underdeveloped countries face demand and market
access problems arising from competition from synthetics, the
declining income demand elasticity for agricultural exports, the
internal agricultural problems of the main consuming countries such as
U.S.A., Britain and France, and the considerable protection given to
agriculture and the processors of agricultural products in these
countries. Partly because of these reasons, the share of the less
developed countries in world export trade had fallen from 30 per cent
in 1948 to 18 per cent in 1969 . In contrast, the share of the
developed market economics has risen from 64 per cent to 71 per cent
within the same period. Moreover, the expected growth model has
little to offer policy makers in their attempt to grapple with the
problem posed by the trade off between export crop production and
find crop expansion under conditions of increasingly limited supple of

104
land and rural labour. At present, if one were to be guided solely by
the rate of return criterion, there is no doubt that almost all the
investments in agricultural would be export oriented. But such a
strategy would worsen the land situation, aggravate inflationary
pressure and foster a risky reliance on imports. Further, the theory
offers no guide in an increasingly industrialized economy where there
is competition for agricultural raw materials between export market
and domestic agro-allied industries. As Nigerian policy makers have
since learnt, this competition places he decision makers are the fact a
dilemma. If the raw materials such as cotton, groundnuts and …….
Sold at world market prices, the country may achieve foreign exchange
increases at the cost of stifling the growth of domestic agro-allied
industries. If, on the other hand, the marketing boards were to
discriminate in favour of domestic agro-allied industries, the
governments of the states and the farmers would lose considerable
revenue which must be made up by the Federal Government – a
course of action fraught with complex political and constitutional
implications. Finally, the theory has nothing to offer policy makers
interested in finding the most appropriate strategy of promoting
agricultural production – whether for exports or for domestic
consumption.

The Urban Industrial Impact Theory:

The objective of this theory is to explain the variations in agricultural
productivity and the U.S.A. According to the theory, economic
development takes place in a locational matrix which is essentially
industrial-urban in composition. The nearer the location of agricultural
production to urban areas, the greater the probability of increased
agricultural output, employment and incomes. This is because
nearness to urban areas reduces transportation cost of both output

105
and input and creates an expanded market for agricultural products,
thus encouraging specialization.

Although this theory was formulated to explain the variations in

agricultural productivity in a predominantly industrial economy, it has
relevance for underdeveloped countries. Generally speaking, villages
which lie close to large urban centres have advantage of large markets
and lower transportation cost. Moreover, their agricultural production
tends to be much more specialized, and hence more productive than
the agricultural activities of villages far removed from large urban
centres. However, it should be pointed out that the mere proximity of
a rural area to a large urban centre does not automatically guarantee
the development of a progressive and dynamic agriculture. It is
conceivable that the nearness of a rural area to urban centres causes
considerable rural-urban migration of labour which creates a serious
bottleneck in the production and harvesting of farm products especially
where the technique of production, as in most less developed countries
is labour intensive. It is also possible that the proximity of the rural
areas to urban environment gives rise to land speculation by urban
elites for whom the possession of land is more a matter of social
prestige rather than a source of income. In that case, much of the land
may not be developed for agricultural purposes. Finally, there is the
crucial issue of the opportunity cost of staying in agriculture. If, as it is
generally the case, perspective farmers in the villages consider the
opportunity cost of farming too high, the nearness of the urban centres
may make them invest their capital and labour in the thriving urban
industries.

The High Input Pay Off Theory:

The high input-pay off theory which assigns a strategic role to new
high yielding input varieties and educated rural labour, was formulated

106
by T.W. Schultz to explain why traditional agriculture is characterized
by low incomes and low productivity despite its highly competitive
structure. In this theory, farmers in traditional agriculture are pictured
as rational, and positive responsive to price incentives. In addition,
they are efficient resources allocators under the constraints imposed
by static technology and the existing factor endowments. In spite of
all this, however, farmers in traditional agriculture remain poor
because they have exhausted all the profitable opportunities to invest
in the factors at their disposal. The operation of diminishing returns in
a situation of static technology ensures that hard-work and thrift do
not bring high rates of return. In this circumstance, and considering
that farmers have already allocated their resources efficiently, no
useful purpose is served by farm management and extension
programmes directed at a more efficient resource allocation in
traditional agriculture. To be worthwhile, such programmes must
include a package of high yielding and profitable new inputs on which
farmers can invest. And given the positive price response exhibited by
farmers Schultz argued that agricultural modernization strategy must
also emphasize a price policy which lowers input prices and raises
those of output in an effort to obtain favourable input-output price
ratio. More important, agricultural modernization cannot proceed far
unless there is investment in research to produce and disseminate
inputs embodying new technology and in the education of rural people
on whom rests the task of allocating the resources for development. In
Schultz’s opinion, such investments are associated with very high rates
of return compared to investments in alternative projects. So crucial
is the role of research, technology and education in this model that
Schultz regards differences in agricultural incomes and productivity
among countries as essentially a reflection of differences in the scope
and quality of investments in research, technology and education
among the countries concerned.

107
The high input-pay off theory has considerable relevance for
agricultural development in the less developed countries. First, it
provides a theoretical basis for a positive price policy in the context of
agricultural development. Second, the theory provides a justification
for government investment in agricultural research and the training of
agricultural scientists. By showing that investments in research and
education have higher social returns than comparable investments in
alternative projects, the model lends strong support to current efforts
to step up and intensify investments in agricultural education,
extension and research. Third, the model gives part of the explanation
for the observed failure of farm management and extension
programmes to increase productivity in agriculture. For until recently,
extension and farm management experts busied themselves with
resources allocation problems and ignored the critical questions of
price incentives, new technology and the opportunity cost of following
the extension agents advice. Fourth, the theory also provides strong
support for current efforts in boost export and food crop production
through subsidization of the purchase of pesticides, fungicides,
fertilizer and higher yielding seed varieties.

Nevertheless, the high input pay off model can be criticized on several
grounds. It can, for example, be criticized for assigning an
exaggerated role in market forces in the course of economic
development. Although market forces are important, it must be
conceded that for a number of reasons, they are not enough. It is
vitally necessary to devise arrangements to ensure first that the
educated people are properly deployed, second, that the new varieties
and chemical inputs get to farmers in time, and third, that access to
these new technology and other sources of income is not closed
against low income farmers with no political influence.

108
Further, the theory ignores the fact that an agriculture which rests on
new technology must be served by new institutions which, in
conception and performance, are different from the old. For example,
it would be unrealistic to expect wide spread adoption of new
techniques where land tenure is archaic and imposes constraints on
labour and capital utilization. In other words, any technological
innovation in agriculture necessarily calls for parallel efforts directed
towards institutional innovation – no easy task. Finally, the theory ,
while emphasizing the role of technological change ignores the welfare
implications. That underdeveloped coutnri3es cannot afford to ignore
the welfare implications of technological change is evidence from the
experiences of India, Pakistan and some Latin American countries
where the Green revolution involves considerable economic gains and
political cost.

Diffusion Theory of Rural Development: The diffusion theory of

rural development attempts to explain the existence of substantial
productivity differences among farmers in the same economic and
geographical region. According to this theory, such differences arise
because of differences in farmers’ adoption of new varieties of seeds,
mechanical and chemical inputs. Since the path of agricultural and
rural development lies in narrowing the existing productivity
differences through the diffusion of technological innovations, the
authors of this theory concentrate on the analysis of the various
techniques for diffusion innovations to the farmers. In particular,
attention is focused on the techniques of communication.

The diffusion theory has considerable appeal in many less developed

nations. It imparts an extension bias to agricultural development and
leads to the streamlining and enlargement of extension services in

109
developing countries. In their search for the most effective method of
diffusion innovations, many policy makers and extension
administrators resort to a number of devices such as experimental
stations and demonstration farms, which are supposed to help in the
spread of new techniques through demonstration effects. In other
countries, emphasis is placed on ‘progressive’ farmers and local
leaders whose production techniques and farm organization are held
up as examples to be followed by farmers in the immediate locality.
The diffusion theory also gives impetus to national and international
efforts to transfer new technology from the advance to he less
developed countries.

In recent years, however, the enthusiasm generated by the diffusion

theory has started to wane, for several reasons. First, policy makers
have not been particularly successful in spreading new technology on
the basis of the strategies prescribed by the diffusion model.
Experimental stations and demonstration farms have negligible
demonstration effects on farming in the areas in which they are
located. The use of farmer leaders or progressive farmers yields
disappointing results in terms of the number of farmers converted to
the use of modern techniques and new technology. Even the farm
settlement approach which was hailed as capable of ensuring a rapid
spread of modern farming techniques and organization has not lived
up to expectations in this respect. Second, the diffusion of innovations
poses much more complex organizational problems than had been
foreseen by the authority of this model. Experience shows that to
adopt a new idea is more than a matter of conveying information about
the existence, use and profitability of the innovations. It involves the
presence of an administrative frame-work to ensure the regular
availability and timely delivery of the new input to farmers. It also
involves the existence of a credit arrangement designed to ensure that

110
shortage of funds presents no barrier to adoption. In many of those
less developed countries which have fervently embraced the diffusion
model, these organizational arrangements are either absent or grossly
inadequate. Third, the attempts to apply the strategies presecribed by
the diffusion model were not always accompanied with painstaking
collection and analysis of microeconomic data which would have
thrown light on the resource situation on different farms and how this
could affect the farmers response to innocations. Rather than try to
evaluate the adoption of new technology in terms of cost and returns,
many extension agents show considerable lack of understanding
whenever the farmers resist change, since, in their view, this is
evidence of the conservation of the traditional society. Fourth, it must
be admitted that the diffusion model works successfully where the
farming population is educated and where the change agents have a
thorough understanding of what they are trying to sell or explain to the
farmers. In most less developed nations, these conditions are absent.
The rural areas are characterized by mass illiteracy. The extension on
agents are usually men with very rudimentary knowledge of the basic
sciences, without which they cannot understand the properties of the
biological and chemical innovations they are supposed to explain to
the farmers. Fifth, there is widespread disappointment regarding the
role of international transfers of technology in agricultural and rural
development. Contrary to the idea fostered by the diffusion model,
many agricultural technologies are location specific and cannot be
adopted by farmers without considerable adaptation to the local
situation. Such adaptation, however, presupposes the existence of
research stations and applied agricultural scientists in the countries
using the innovations. While this condition is fulfilled in a few
countries, it is not a practical proposition in most developing countries.
The result is a tendency to wholesale transfer of new technique or
technology to areas with widely different ecological and economic

111
circumstances – an important explanation for the limited diffusion.
Finally, it has been argued that the diffusion models are plagued by
several theoretical and conceptual inadequacies such as lack of over-
all integrating frame-work, inadequate attention to developments in
information and decision theories, and inadequate attention to
institutional arrangements.

Induced Development Theory:_According to induced development

theory, every country which embarks on the course of economic
development necessarily encounters a set of constraints to
development imposed by inelasticity in the supply of strategic inputs.
Unless efforts are directed to the loosening or breaking of these
constraints to development imposed by inelasticity in the supply of
strategic inputs. Unless efforts are directed to the loosening or
breaking of these constraints by producing substitutes for these factors
of inelastic supply, the whole process of economic development is
bound to be greatly depressed. Historically, changes in relative factor
prices and in input/output price ratios have induced the production of
substitutes which effectively loosen the constraints imposed by the
inelasticity of factor supply. This has happened because such changes
convey information to policy makers, farmers and research
administration regarding the relative priorities which must be placed
on the goals of agricultural research. The interaction which leads to
the production of innovations tends to proceed at four levels: (a) the
level involving basic and applied scientists as the latter incessantly
demand from the former body of new knowledge and techniques
essential to the fulfillment of their mission, (b) the level of farmers and
policy makers as the former put pressure on the latter to invest in
research and engage scientists who will produce new knowledge
designed to solve their input supply and production cost problems, (c)
at the level of policy makers and research administrators who, taking

112
their cues from policy makers, re-order their research priorities and (d)
at the level of researchers and input suppliers in the private sector
where the new knowledge is tested and made commercially
worthwhile.

The theory attaches considerable importance to institutional

innovations such as changes in land tenure and the introduction of new
organizational arrangements which enable the economy to take full
advantage of innovations from the basic and applied scientists.
Another institutional innovation which receives emphasis in the model
is socialization of research.

The hypotheses advanced in this theory are tested using the data and
experience of the U.S.A and Japan between 1880 and 1960. The
results of the analysis show that in Japan, increased agricultural
productivity was associated with a continuous stream of biological and
chemical innovations which, by increasing yield per unit, of land,
actually loosened the constraints imposed by the fixity of land and high
land prices. On the other hand, the dramatic increases in U.S.A.
agricultural productivity was a consequence of the introduction of
mechanical power, which being labour saving, loosened the constraint
imposed on agricultural development by labour scarcity and high
wages. The empirical evidence also suggests that the problems of
constraints imposed by the inelastic supply of productive factors does
not admit of a once and for all solution. The solution of one problem
crease a constraint in another sphere which must be removed. Thus,
the mechanization of harvesting the U.S.A., which solved the labour
problem, created the need for threshing machines. The implication is
that research administrators and scientists must be continually
engaged in the tasks of producing inputs and devices to ease the ever
increasing bottlenecks created by economic development.

113
The Contribution of the Growth Theories to Agricultural
Development.
In some respects, the theories reviewed in the previous pages have
influenced development strategies in many developing countries.

First, they identify for the attention of policy makers the critical
variations in agricultural development. Among such variables are
research, technological innovations, the growth of the urban industrial
sector and expansion of export opportunities.

Second, the construction of these theories has given impetus to

research aimed at testing some of the hypotheses and assumptions
underlying the theories. Thus Schultz’s high input pay off model led to
empirical studies showing the relationship between input/output price
ratios and up-take of innovations, the nature of resource allocation in
traditional agriculture and the rate of return to investment in the
education of farm people compared to the return in alternative
investment. While these empirically oriented studies do not give a
hundred per cent confirmation of the propositions in the model, they
tend to give strong support to many of them and to provide a basis for
policies. The empirical studies also provide estimates of a number of
parameters of interest to policy makers. Moreover, these studies
sometimes force the policy makers to revise or modify previously held
opinions. For example, studies showing the positive price
responsiveness of peasant farmers have compelled a change of
attitude and policy from one which emphasized cheap food and raw
materials to one which recognizes the need for remunerative prices for
agricultural producers.

114
Third, the ideas in these theories somehow filter through various
national and international reports, studies and papers prepared for the
consideration of policy makers in the less developed world. This is
because the generation of economists who write these reports and
conduct these studies necessarily absorb consciously or unconsciously
some of the postulates of these models. Besides, there are a number
of policy makers especially in young nations of Africa and Latin
America who received their training in American or European
Universities and have attachment to one or more of these models.
Such people are often sympathetic to policy suggestions based on
some of these models.

However, it should be pointed out the usefulness and relevance of

these models for policy are limited by several consideration. First,
there are limitations arising from the nature of policy environment.
Second, there are limitations arising from the character of the models
themselves.

Among the limitations arising from policy environment are those

imposed by political factors – the existence of pressure groups,
conflicting interests, constituencies and other power groups which no
intelligent policy makers can afford to ignore or treat with levity. The
result is that economic policy or development strategy tends to be the
child of compromise between what is ideal in economic terms and
what is politically practicable. In a number of cases, the weight
attached to political considerations is so heavy that decisions may be
taken in utter disregard of the economic variables clearly identified in
the models. Another limitation arising from the political environment is
the tendency for agricultural development strategies to be based on
crises, emergencies or episodes, rather than on well thought out and
logical analysis. For example, much of the emphasis on food

115
production in the third Nigerians plan derives from the current food
price inflation and the drought which afflicted the northern part of the
country. The relative absence of well thought out policy strategy is a
consequence partly, of political instability, unpredictable changes in
government and a consequent tendency to devote more energy to
devices for staying in power rather than on long term strategy for
development.

The limitations arising from the character of the theories are many.
Generally, these models pursue rigour, logical and consistency at the
cost of realism. For instance, all the models reviewed in this chapter
abstract from the influence of political and institutional arrangements
which, as is well known, have a profound impact on the course of
economic development in the less developed countries. Also,
reflecting the environment in which their authors operate, the theories
place overwhelming faith on the market solution of the development
problems. Thus Schultz’s models and that of Ruttan and Hayani
emphasize input prices as the chief factor in profitability and
innovations essential for agricultural development. The classical
theory emphasizes the rate of return based essentially on the
operation of market forces. Yet in practice, many countries are
compelled to look for non market solutions because of ideology,
imperfection in output and input markets, price distortion,
pervasiveness of externalities, the tendency for market solutions to
encourage income disparities and the need to use physical measures
where, as in the case of peasant farming, market solution is not always
practicable given the subsistence orientation of production/.
Furthermore, many of these models do not pay much attention to the
variations in factor endowments, institutional arrangements and other
peculiarities characteristic of individual less developed countries.
Consequently, there is a tendency for their authors to make

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generalizations which they consider applicable to every
underdeveloped country. For instance, in the induced development
model, the impression is created that the American and Japanese
experience in promoting agricultural modernization through induced
innovations which broke the constraints imposed by the scarce factor
can be repeated in other less developed countries. Little account
seems to have been taken of the fact that there may be countries
lacking in strong agricultural lobbies and dedicated scientists who
could be relied upon to bring pressure on the policy makers and to
conduct research aimed at easing the supply constraints of strategic
inputs. Further, there are a number of cases where agricultural
modernization proceeds because policy makers had planned in
anticipation of bottlenecks rather than wait for such bottlenecks to
induce innovations. As the Nigerian experience shows, it is better to
anticipate these bottlenecks and plan for their removal before they
assume intractable dimensions.

Revision Questions
1. Distinguish between Economic Growth and Economic
Development and discuss the Implications of this distinction
for rural development.
2. To what extent would you consider Nigerian agricultural
development strategies in the 1970s as a response to crises
situations?
3. “The fundamental weakness of economic growth models is
their reliance on the market for the solution of development

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 problems”. Discuss with detailed reference to any two growth
models.
4. According to T.W. Schultz, farmers in traditional agriculture
are efficient but poor. Explain and discuss.
5. “The dual economy models of A.W. Lewis and his followers
have a pernicious influence on the course of agricultural
development in most less developed countries”. Explain and
examine this statement.
6. “The prescriptions of the export-led growth model are largely
irrelevant in the second half of the twentieth century”.
Evaluate this statement with reference to your country.
7. According to the induced development model, “failure to
choose a path which effectively loosens the constraints
imposed by resource endowments can depress the whole
process of agricultural.

Suggested Further Reading:-

Elements of Rural Economics by Olayide, S.O; Ogunfowora, O; Essang,
S.M; and Idachaba, F.S. 1975. University of Ibadan Press. Ibadan.

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 CHARACTERISTICs OF NIGERIAN AGRICULTURE

O.A OLOWA
Department of Agricultural Education
Federal College of Education (tech), Akoka

Highlights
• Introduction

• Characteristics of Agriculture in Nigeria

• Revision questions

Introduction
Nigeria covers 924000 kms on the west coast of Africa vegetation
ranges from tropical forest in the south to the Sahel savannah in the
north.
Nigeria’s land stretches from latitude 40N to 140N and from longitude
30E to 140N. 71 million ha (77 per cent) of this land area are considered
cultivable, about 32 million ha (45 percent) of the total cultivable land
area are actually cultivable.
Prior to the discovery of oil in the Nigeria in the 1970’s, agriculture was
the mainstay of the Nigerian economy accounting for about two-thirds
of the gross domestic product (GDP), with the 0il boom, agriculture’s
contribution to GDP declined to 25percent by 1980 and Nigeria moved
from being a large exporter to a major importer of agricultural
products. Since the mid-1980’s, as a result of a decline in oil revenue
and policy measure implemented under a structural adjustment

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programme (SAP), agriculture’s contribution to GDP has risen to about
40 percent.

Characteristics of Nigerian Agriculture

Nigeria agriculture is fully embedded with a lot of characteristics. These
are as follows:
i.Exploitation of the natural communities of plants and
animals in the forest, rivers and lakes for food and
other human needs;

ii.Modern Nigerian agriculture employs scientific and

technological tools to control the factors and conditions
which affects the growth and development of useful
plants and animals husbandry or modern farming, in
addition to organized husbandry of crop and animal;

iii.Integration of farm and household to produce food

and other products. Most of the production activities on
the farm are closely inter-related because they all
utilize the same resources(i.e. land, labour and capital);

iv.The farm size is usually small, although large scale

group and corporation farms are being developed now,
work on the farm is mainly done with human labour
using simple farm tools;

v.Animals and crop husbandry are separated which

limit the use of animal power for farming operations;

vi.Mixed and relay inter-cropping system although high

value cash crops, particularly tree species, are grown in
monoculture;

vii.Cropping is more dependent on rainfall (i.e. rain fed

agriculture), although irrigation is being practised in
some areas;

viii.Agricultural production takes time and is beset by

unpredictable natural hazards, which cannot be

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controlled. Consequently, unlike industries, agriculture
cannot adjust rapidly to changing conditions.

ix.In areas with limited land and strong family

attachment to land, high population lead to
fragmentation of farm holdings resulting in farm sizes
which are below the minimum to function as economic
units;

x.Burning is widely used a means of clearing the land in

preparation for planting although tree stumps are not
always removed re-growth of native species occurs
immediately after a cropping cycle;

xi.Permanent cultivation is restricted to homestead

farms. But with increasing population the classical
forms of shifting cultivation are disappearing, giving
ways to land rotation or permanent cultivation
especially on irrigated flood plains and other productive
soil regions;

xii.Mixed cropping, where a variety of crops are grown

together on the same farm is widespread. This provides
foods, artefacts and protection of the homestead;

xiii.Root tuber and trees crops dominate in the welter

forest belt while grain crops are associated with the
farming systems of the grassland or savannas belt;

xiv.Inorganic fertilizers are used only in more

progressive crop production because of the cost;

xv.Soil fertility is maintained by the peasant farmers

through regular fallowing or the application of manure
in the form of household and animal refuse on heavily
cropped homestead farms and gardens.

xvi.Animals, particularly poultry are kept on free range;

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 xvii.Farm animals are fed with fodder while kitchen
wastes provide food for the few ones kept in the
homestead;

xviii.Poorly implemented policies;

xix.Low level of research work meant to transform

agriculture.

Revision Questions
I. Mention ten (10) characteristics of Agriculture in
Nigeria.

II. Briefly explain how peasant farmers maintain the soil

fertility.

Suggested further reading

Akinyosoye, V.O. (2005). Government and Agriculture in Nigeria.
Lagos: Macmillan Publishers.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT POLICY, STRATEGY AND MODELS.

122
 OLATOMIDE W. OLOWA

Department of Agricultural Education

Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka.

Highlights
- Introduction
- Features of Community Development
- Aims and Objectrives of Community Development
- Community Development Policy
- Community Development Strategy
- Community Development Models
- Revision Questions
- References

INTRODUCTION
“Community development is a structured intervention that gives
communities greater control over the conditions that affect their lives.

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This does not solve all the problems faced by a local community, but it
does build up confidence to tackle such problems as effectively as any
local action can.

Community development works at the level of local groups and

organizations rather than with individuals or families. The range of
local groups and organizations representing communities at local level
constitutes the community sector.

Development process is the empowering and enabling of those who

are traditionally deprived of power and control over their common
affairs. It claims as important the ability of people to act together to
influence the social, economic, political and environmental issues
which affect them.

“Community development is a skilled process and part of its approach

is the belief that communities cannot be helped unless they
themselves agree to this process. Community development has to
look both ways: not only at how the community is working at the grass
roots, but also at how responsive key institutions are to the needs of
local communities”.

Features of Community Development

This is adopted as a move towards our understanding of Community
Development.
• Community Development is crucially concerned with the
issues of powerlessness and disadvantage: as such it should
involve all members of society, and offers a practice that is
part of a process of social change.
• Community Development is about the active involvement of
people in the issues which affect their lives. It is a process

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 based on the sharing of power, skills, knowledge and
experience.
• Community Development takes place both in neighborhoods
and within communities of interest, as people identity what is
relevant to them.
• The Community Development process is collective, but the
experience of the process enhances the integrity, skills,
knowledge and experience, as well as equality of power, for
each individual who is involved.
• Community Development seeks to enable individuals and
communities to grow and change according to their own
needs and priorities, and at their own pace, provided this does
not oppress other groups and communities, or damage the
environment.
• Where community Development takes place, there are certain
principles central to it i.e the first priority of the community.

Aims and Objectives

• Community Development aims to encourage sharing, and to
create structures which give genuine participation and
involvement.
• Community Development is about developing the power,
skills, knowledge and experience of people as individuals and
in groups, thus enabling them to undertake initiatives of their
own to combat social, economic, political and environmental
problems, and enabling them to fully participate in a truly
democratic process.
• Community Development takes the lead in confronting the
attitudes of individuals and the practices of institutions and
society as a whole which discriminates unfairly.

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Community Development Policy
In many projects there may be some objectives related to changing
the environments (political and administrative) within which
community development interventions are carried out. These may
include, for example, “leaders, technical experts, and civil servants
changing from a provision approach to a facilitating self-help
approach.” Other objectives may refer to developing and
institutionalizing programmes and actions of empowering low
income communities by the relevant ministries and departments,
and in guiding non-governmental organizations in carrying out this
work. To create a legal and institutional framework as well as to
allow Government to provide a leadership role in community
development, it is necessary to have an official policy paper,
approved by Government, which codifies its principles and policies
regarding community development.

1. Procedures For Developing Community Development

Policy
To ensure a policy paper is comprehensive, useful, relevant and
a reflection of the “will of the people,” its production should be
as participatory and consultative as possible. Those participating
in its creation and development should definitely not be limited
to civil servants, or to community development practitioners, or
to any specific professional category; participation should be
broad based. It should include stake holders at all levels:
advocacy groups, CBOs and implementing committees, civic
engagement groups, farmers, health workers, illiterates, lawyers,
local authorities, national and international NGOs, students,
teachers, i.e. people from all walks of life.

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 Full participation by everybody (e.g. listed above) is impossible.
The practical alternative is to set up a procedure that allows
maximum input by stake holders. A small “task force” composed
of, say, four persons, should be assigned the job of co-ordinating
the creation and production of the document. The task force
should include at least one academic (knowledgeable about
community development), a professional community worker, and
an officer of an NGO. The job of the task force should be to
produce a rough first draft, circulate it to others for feedback,
and set up a series of workshops for editing and finalization, and
prepare a final copy to be presented to parliament.

When the document is finalized, it should be taken by ministry

officials to the minister, for presentation to parliament, for
approval. It can be accompanied by any appropriate documents
for parliament members to read along side it (e.g. description
and analysis of conditions and needs; relative advantages of
facilitating participation).

2. Contents of the Policy Paper.

The following is a collection of issues about what to include or
not to include in a policy paper.

Policy Should be Policy.

A policy paper should be an encoding of a country’s policy. As
an “acid test” of content, you can ask of every sentence: “Does it
say what to do, or what not to do (by whom, to whom, with
whom or through whom)?” Many policy papers are diluted or
weakened by descriptive material about the sociology or history
of communities or community development. A policy paper is

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not a university essay; descriptive and analytical material can be
put in an accompanying “profile” paper (perhaps to convince
members of parliament about the need for codified policy) but
should not be included in the policy paper itself.

Clarity and Precise Definitions.

Community development and Community participation are
plagued with different and conflicting interpretations. The use of
key words in the text of the policy should be precise, specific,
and unambiguous. They should be supported by a list of
definitions that is attached (as an appendix) to the policy paper
and approved as an integral section of the paper. Words and
phrases defined in such an appendix should include (but not be
limited to) the following:-
Accountability, animation, capacity, CBO, CBR, a community,
community empowerment, community management,
community-based, consultation, development, functional
literacy, human settlement, income generation, intervention,
local authority, mobilizing, NGO, participation, partnership, PHC,
poverty, sustainability, training, transparency, unity organizing,
and value added. You might think of other key words and
concepts. All definitions, and the use of these words in the text,
should not be vague or able to be interpreted in more than one
way. This will help to avoid misinterpretations and conflicting or
contradictory actions by those implementing community work.

Non Governmental Organizations.

NGOs are here to stay. They are growing in number, size,
variety, impact and influence. Governments do not have the
resources, flexibility, or mandate to do all community work
without being supplemented by NGOs. Those that are mature,

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professional, ethical, and development oriented will desire to be
an integral part of a country’s policy of poverty reduction,
community empowerment and democratization. They will see a
well formulated policy paper as a much needed clarification of
leadership and guidance for their work.

Not only should NGO representatives be invited to participate in

the drafting of community development policy, an important
segment of the policy should be devoted to the guidance of
national and international NGOs. At the very minimum, the
policy should define what information NGOs should provide the
ministry; including: objectives, methods, areas of operation,
results of activities, monitoring and evaluation, in the form of
plans, budgets, records and reports. Quarterly reports, every
three months, are recommended.

The ministry, in return, has a role to play in collating and

summarizing all NGO reports, assessing areas (professional and
geographic) of weakness and needs, and providing guidelines
and leadership to the NGOs.

Communication and Networking

The ministry should facilitate the sharing of experiences and
skills between all the local government officers working in
community development and all the NGOs doing community
work. This could be in the form of a regular newsletter,
supplemented by occasional news briefs,. Annual meetings
would be beneficial. The ministry should also be in the
forefront of using electronic information technology, by
establishing and maintaining an Inter Net web site on which its
communiqué’s be established, as well as training material and

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experiences shared by Local Government development officers
and NGOs.

Training and Upgrading

The Government should be the focus of in-service training and
upgrading of professional Intervention skills of community
workers in and outside of the government. (Community workers
can easily get stale, outdated or burned out, and training is one
way of re-invigorating them). Many such services are available,
often available for free, mainly unknown by practicing
community workers.

The policy of the Government should be towards the continual

upgrading and professionalization of community development
workers in the field, learning the new methods and techniques as
they appear, and integrating practical experience with theory
and literature.

Purpose and Focus

The purpose of the policy paper should be clearly stated. Its
intention is to clarify and codify the country’s policies related to
community development, it should emphasize empowerment
over dependency, transparency over secrecy, affirmative action
towards vulnerable persons, gender balance, good management,
democratization and planning.

Roles of Actors
A chapter of the policy paper or (better) an appendix should
define the roles of the key actors and stake holders. As each role
is identified and described, relations between actors also can be
sketched. The list should include, but not be limited to:

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 Community members, community leaders, coordinators, local
government or regional authorities, donor representatives,
executing agencies, implementation agencies, local authorities,
ministers, mobilizes /animators, NGO officers, Ngo boards, Ngo
country representatives, politicians, senior ministry officials,
department officials, steering committee, target (group or
individual) and others responsible for or participating in
community development. The list should encompass
governmental and non governmental actors and stake holders.

3. Utility of the Policy Paper.

A policy paper, even if approved by parliament, will not make
any effect if it is then shelved and ignored. Its usefulness (utility)
mainly will be a result of what happens next. The policy should
not only be read, but also discussed and understood, not only by
community workers, but by their supervisors, manager and
planners, by leaders and officials, at all levels, who control or
influence what goes on in the communities.

The production of the paper should be treated as an opportunity

to advocate for the principles embodied in the paper. Many
copies, each with a shiny cover and a few illustrations, should be
printed and made available at bookshops, at subsidized rates,
throughout the country. Free copies should be sent to every
local government office and to every Ngo working in community
development.

Several workshops, at national and distinct levels, involving all

levels of stake holders should be held. There workshops should
not remain limited to awareness raising and understanding of the
policy, but should challenge the participants to then formulate

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programmes of community empowerment, based on the
principles embodied in the policy.

The ministry can do all this, produce, approve and utilize, a

policy paper, without increasing its budget. Many external
donors (governments, the UN, NGOs) are willing to contribute to
such work, so long as leadership, motivation, commitment and
will are shown by the ministry to carry this out.

Community Development Strategy

The strategy sets out the role of the community development
team, its priorities, its working practices, principles and values.

The team could potentially get involved in most pieces of work,

to do with a ‘community’ – however, limited resources mean that
there is need to identify priorities.

Community development prioritizes communities under two

headings – geographic communities and communities of interest,
where communities of interest are those that share similar
experiences (e.g. disability, age group). Priorities are listed on
the strategy, geographical areas considered at ward level, sub-
ward level and rural areas – with particular villages emphasized
due to rural isolation.

Strategy Content
i) Key issues facing both geographical communities and
communities of interest, with examples of how community
development practices impact on these issues.

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 ii) Values and principles agreed by the Standing Committee
for Community Development – widely accepted as the
model for community development practitioners.
iii) Practical approaches used to deliver community
development work – including consultation, participation,
partnership working, volunteering, community assets and
sustainability.
iv) Action plan for the period. This work plan is linked to the
corporate plan and budget framework. The actions are
subject to existing budgets being continued.

Community Development Models

There are two models that have resulted from research. They are
presented separately, but are interrelated. A model of reflection in
community development practice can be found on the last page of this
chapter. Elements of the proposed model are:
* Implicit practice-based Theory In the course of doing their
work, practitioners tended to development personalized and
practice-based theories based on their field experiences. They
formulated strategies and theories about community
development work to inform their practice. We have labeled
them implicit because they tended to become something that
wasn’t articulated but influenced their actions.

• Beliefs about Community:- Practitioners must assess how

capable a community is to chart its own course and how to
assist them. Community development practitioners struggle
with the appropriate blend of local knowledge, involvement of
outside experts, accepting directions from local leaders, and
when to call upon their own knowledge in community
development activities. They are challenged about when and

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 how to bring in outside knowledge such as new government
regulations or activities in neighbouring communities.
• Talking /Working Together/Observing:- Practitioners learn
by working each other and community residents, working
together on projects, visiting other communities, and soliciting
ideas and suggestions from their peers.
• Literature-Based Theories:- Participants turned out to read
widely in business, environmental, policy studies, law,
psychology, agriculture, and adult education. A synthesis of
multiple theories is their guide rather than a single theory
derived from community development literature.
• Field Experience and Practices:- This is the central
component in reflective practice. It is through experience and
ongoing practice, in which a practitioner attempts to assist
communities, that a practitioner reflects on his/her work and
formulates his/her implicit practice-based theories. While
each element of the model is described separately, they do
not exist in isolation. Practitiopners are guided by a synthesis
of these elements to address needs in the community. What
links the different elements is constant reflection.

Guides to community development practice has been influenced by

several theories relating to reflective practice. Concepts such as
double loop learning (Argyris & Schon, 1978; Bright, 1996), reflective
practice (Boud and Walker, 1990), reflective thought and action
(Barnet, 1989), and communities of practice (Wenger, 1998) are
relevant. Schon (1983) suggests that many practitioners engage in
reflective practice, and that they may develop theories-in-use that are
based in knowledge that is used daily to make judgments about what
actions to take in a particular context and situation. Reflective practice
“is an active, proactive, reactive and action-based process defining a

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set of skills concerned with understanding and dealing with real,
complex, and difficult situations” (Bright, 1996, P. 167). For example,
Wellington and Austin’s (1996) model suggests that professional
efforts can be both domesticating and liberating, depending on the
value and belief systems of the professional.

Bond & Walker (1990) offer a framework of reflective practice that

relates preparation, experience, and reflective processes about how
professional conduct their work. Their inclusion of the social milieu
elegantly captures the ideas we have represented by talking, working
together, and observing. Wenger’s (1988) social theory of learning
views learning as a fundamentals talking about meaning, identify,
practice, and community. The elements of his model are meaning,
practice, community, and identity with learning as the central
component. Wenger refers to the various items being as deeply
interconnected. It does not seem very important which element
occupies the centre space. The certainly appears to resonate with our
model.

Wenger elaborates on the concept of communities of practice, which

he suggests are an integral part of daily life and include our family and
work life, schooling, and recreational activities. In a profession such as
community development, ways of practice develop in community
created over time by the sustained pursuit of a shared enterprise.

Several models of reflective practice exist in the literature. However,

to date the practice of community development has not been explored
from this perspective, and neither have these previous studies been
conducted on an international basis. While the models of reflective
practice existing in the literature are informative, we found them
inadequate for explaining the complexities of what guides community

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development practitioners in their work. Several factors differentiate
the work of community development from other professions: 1) the
diversity of their work, (2) its location in the community, (3)
practitioners travel to the communities they work with but are usually
not members and (4) the situations they work with are complex
involving decision making, problem solving, and interacting with many
people.

Revision Questions
1. define Community Development
2. Mention two aims of Community Development
3. Enumerate Five features of community development.
4. Explain the Procedure for developing community policy.
5. What should be the context of a community development
policy paper.
6. Explain two elements of community development model.
7. What strategies are involved in carrying out community
development Activities.
8. What roles are government expected to play in a community
development.

Suggested Further Reading

Argyris, C., & Schon, D.A. (1978). Theory in practice: Increasing

professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Barnett, B.G. (1989, October), Reflection: The Cornerstone of learning

from experience. Paper presented at the University Council for
Educational Administrators Annual Conventional, Scottsdale,
Arizona.

Bright, B. (1996). Reflecting on “reflective practice”. Studies in the

Education of Adults, 28(2), 162-184.

136
Boud, D., & Walker, D. (1990). Making the most of Experience.
Studies
in Continuing Education, 12 (2), 61-80.

Creswell, J.W. (1998). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design:

Choosing among five traditions.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications, Inc.

POLICY ALIGNMENT IN NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL

DEVELOPMENT

T.T. AWOYEMI (Ph.D)

Department of Agricultural Economics
University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

Highlights:
- Introduction
- Problems with Policy Alignment
- Nigerian Experience
- Need for Policy Alignment
- Revision Questions

INTRODUCTION

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Nigerian Agriculture is bedeviled by poverty and many other ills. There
is an avalanche of writings chronicling the ills of the sector. The
following are the areas of emphasis for these writings:
a) General declining productivity of staple crops over the years
at 1.5% per annum.
b) A land tenure that is neither secure nor certain in its
constitution with a consequent multiplicity of ownership rights
and cultivation practices.
c) A large, untrained and poorly nourished labour force (70%) in
a national population (140million) growing at the rate of 2.5 –
3% per annum.
d) Unending, unfavourable term of trade; and
e) An ever-increasing pre-harvest, harvest and post-harvest food
losses (20-30%) due to microbial, physical and other factors.

All the above factors have been given as the root causes of the
country’s agricultural ills.

Efforts towards tackling this ill have generated various policies at the
three levels of government (local, state and federal). These policies
are most times overlapping, duplication or unnecessary competition at
one time or the other.

One notable factor that has received little if any attention is the
absence of a reliable co-ordinated policy or set of policies in Nigerian
agriculture from federal to the local government.

To harness the potentialities in Nigerian agriculture and enhance its

development, there is a need for virile policies and proper
administration of such policies.

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Problems With Policy Alignment
Given the characteristics of Nigeria Agriculture as seen in earlier
chapter with different operatives; a federal structure that gives virtual
autonomy to federal, state, local government, autonomous community
authority over agricultural occupation. In this situation, an effective
two-way communication from the farmer through the bureaucratic
hierarchy and vice versa becomes a dilemma. And worse still, policy
actions over research, education, marketing price and rural
development, become ineffective and confusing.

The problem is ameliorated in a military regime with its centralized

structure. Even here, the reverse will be the case if there is no will in
the various hierarchies to give or take orders.

The centre-piece of Nigerian agricultural policy has been acclaimed to

be the farmer. The efforts of all governments are therefore geared to
the improvement of his level of living. What is expected of various
governments is to streamline and synchronies their policies to
effectuate this objective. But instead of doing this, we see the
different governments pursuing different policies with different
instruments towards the same goal – improved agriculture,
overlapping, duplications and unnecessary competition substitute
coherence, compromise and alignment.

We shall now examine the subject using Examples of past

Observations:
(a) There are varying degrees of emphasis or priority. In the first
National Development plan, the federal governments higher
priority was industrialization, in the states it was agriculture.

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 In the Fourth development plan, government laid maximum
weight on agriculture while some states laid it on education or
transportation. Also, owing to the non-cooperation of some
state agencies, such as banks, it was not possible for the
Federal Government to carry thought its fiscal and monetary
policies.
(b) Another examples is the question of retail prices. The price
control board (PCB) failed because it could not adequately
control the rise in prices due to a protracted shortage in most
consumer goods. Its successor, the Resale Price maintenance
scheme did not fair better. It allowed the manufacturers to
supervise or police the distribution of all their commodities, to
ensure that retailers and consumers were not cheated. But,
as it happened, not all state governments then cooperated in
this.
(c) The abandonment of Agro-Service centres by the states to the
Federal government in the third development plan is another
example. Less than 15% of those earmarked in 1976 had
been completed by 1978; and only less than 30% had been
completed ever since. On the other hand, various states
embarked on their own projects rather than see to the
completion of the federal schemes.
(d) Delivery of input services such as fertilizers, pesticides,
insecticides, tractors, seeds, and poultry product. State
governments would rather be the agencies for the above than
allow the federal government to distribute them directly.
Early in 1980, for example, the Federal ministry of Agriculture
through the Federal Department of Agricultural Cooperatives
delivered some quantities of tractors and farm inputs. They
were rejected or abandoned by some states on the grounds

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 that they were handled by the presidential advisers or
members of opposing political parties.
(e) Land acquisition for Agricultural Projects: The land use
Decree is inoperative in some states and made a mockery in
others. Even the High Courts of some states are giving
conflicting interpretations as to its meaning. In practical
terms, it is not easy for federal authorities to find land for
housing, and agricultural projects, to name a few. At the best,
considerable delay is occasioned, that the project is launched
far believed schedule.
(f) Integrated Rural Development that was ushered in by the 3rd
National Development plan had the Objective: to increase
rural productivity and income, diversify rural economy and
generally enhance the quality of life in the rural areas”.

This programme, otherwise known as Agricultural

Development is uniquely suited to raising farm output through
intensive and extensive agriculture, as well as the provision of
basic social amenities in the rural areas. Apart from the fact
that these ADPs were largely politically motivated, and serve
urban rather than rural interest, it is clear that in their
conception they did not involve the local government Areas,
nor were the States Ministries brought into the show. On this,
Idachaba (1980) said that “though there is formal provision
for Local Government Councils to take over ADP feeder roads,
there are no adequate provisions for (1) training of LGC
technical personnel, and (ii) financial arrangements for LGC
funding of regular and periodic maintenance of feeder road
network”.
(g) The Green Revolution Programme:- While the Federal
Governmen operated the Green Revolution programme, the

141
 then Anambra State was pre-occupied with its food for the
people programme. Similarly, every other State has its own
particular mass movement, with limited attention to the
federal.
(h) Finally, we discuss the coordination of cooperatives society in
the various ministries. Examples of these conflicts and
problems in coordination are the following:
1) Cooperatives located not in one but in different types of
ministries (Agriculture, rural development, community
development, trades etc)
2) No central leadership in cooperative matters till 1975 with the
birth of the Federal Ministry of Cooperatives and Supply.
3) The unexpected dissolution of the same ministry in 1979.
4) Absence of a National Cooperative Education Programmes,
thus creating disparities in Standards and Certificates.

NEED FOR POLICY ALIGNMENT

1. The imperative of a coherent long term strategy for
agricultural development, so that policy is not subject to
passing fashions, political pressures, hasty campaigns and
brief –enthusiasms.
2. The need for collective actions of Federal, States and Local
Government areas in planning, monitoring, analysis and
implementation of programmes.
3. A greater use of the nation’s human and materials resources,
the avoidance of wastages due to duplications and
misallocations.
4. Maximization of available financial resources in the service of
the same objective – agricultural development.

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 5. The creation of a healthy two-way system of communication
and responsibilities from the federal to the local government
areas and vice –versa.
6. Greater responsibility of data collection, analysis and
publication.
7. Ease in monitoring, follow-up, evaluations and alignment.

Revision Questions.
1. What do you understand by term Policy alignment?
2. Justify the need for Policy alignment in the development of
Agriculture in Nigeria.
3. Discuss Four examples of emphasis or priorities in the past
that shows the need for policy alignment in Nigerian
Agricultural development.

Suggested Further Reading.

Idachaba, F.S. (1980) Concepts and Strategies of Integrated
Rural Development: Lessons from Nigeria”. Department of
Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan P.P. 30 – 44.

Fourth National Development in Nigeria 1973 – 85

Federal Ministry of Agricultural and Natural Resources, Lagos
1974. P. 531.
Third National Development Plan 1975 – 80 Vol.1
Central Planning Offiec, Lagos P. 292.

Ijere, M.O. (1983) Reading in Nigerian Agricultural Policy and

Planning Port-Harcourt.

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 ADMINSITRATIVE AND POLITICAL FACTORS IN AGRICULTURAL
DEVELOPMENT POLICY

A.S. OYEKALE (Ph.D)

Department of Agricultural Economics.
University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

Highlights:
- Introductions
- Nature/Uniquenes of Agriculture and its policy implications.
- Structure and operation of Administrative and political factors.
- Guidelines for future Agricultural Development.
- Revision questions.

INTRODUCTION

144
The Agricultural development strategy of any nation should be the
outcome of the cooperative undertaking of theoreticians, bureaucrats,
political leaders and farmers. The extent to which each group is
prepared to compromise in areas of conflict and to pull resources for
the common goal will determine the level of success possible.

While attempts are made in most developing countries to evolve

reasonably acceptable agricultural development policies, little or no
attempt is made to consider the administrative and political factors
affecting policy.

This chapter will take a closer study of the structure and operation of
administrative and political factors affecting policy. As a prelude, we
shall look at the nature of the agricultural industry and the policy
implications.

1) Nature/Uniqueness of Agriculture and Its Policy

Implications:
a) The Nature of Agriculture:
There are six major characteristics of agriculture that makes it
unique and distinguished from industry and other economic
sectors namely:-
i) Degree of variation in specific requirements for efficient
production from crop to crop, from country to country
and locality to locality ever within larger regions.
Agriculture is different from industry in this respect. An
industry (e.g. steel making) can be established any
where with minimum adaptation.
ii) High degree of interdependence among the relevant
factors in agriculture, where a single physical input
involves many non-physical factors like fertilizer,

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 incentives, and extension services, each having
implications for the organization of programmes for
promoting agricultural productivity.
iii) Large number and dispersion in decision –making units
whose behaviour must be changed if the agricultural
sector is to be modernized. Farmers are widely
geographically scattered, vary in economic status and
potential, cover a broad political spectrum, and exhibit
varying pattern of attitudes and motivations. In
contrast, it is easier to organize an industrial labour
force managerial controls industry are highly
concentrated.
iv) The need for effective two-way communication in the
administrative process as a result of the variations in
factors and the dispersion and number of farmers. This
is however easier to achieve in industry than in
agriculture because of the decentralization and
variability of the local circumstances of farming.
v) Sustained growth in agricultural output requires
technical, economic, attitudinal and political
transformations of the whole structure or rural society
and cannot be brought about quickly. If we compare
this with industry, in which a simple decision can, with
appropriate outside help lead to the building of a dam,
rradway or factory. We find that agricultural
transformation requires a series of interlocking changes
in some many different aspects of rural life, that a
perspective of decades is required.
vi) Finally, agriculture in under-developed countries is
conceived of as a low-status occupation. This attitude
influences the manpower employed in all aspects of the

146
 agricultural industry. It also affects the amount of
money budgeted for it.
(b) Policy Implications of the Nature of Agriculture.
1. The Need for Adaptation:- As a result of the variations in
physical, economic institutional and motivational factors,
compounded, by the all-embracing interdependent of agricultural
productions, no meaningful rule of thumb can be applied to the
generality of agricultural problems. No matter how successful a
breeding technique is, we cannot reasonably apply it to all
situations irrespective of time, place and other local conditions.
In short, our innovation must be adapted to the area under
consideration. If there is no such adaptation, the new idea may
become foreign body and will be thrown out.
ii. Policy decisions must be carried out with minimum delay in clear
unambiguous directives and executed with maximum efficiency.
Consider what would happen if yams and maize were supplied or
planted either too early or too late as consequences of
bureaucratic protocols. That will mean loss of revenue and food
of a high magnitude.
iii) The manpower to carry out the various stages of activities in
agriculture must possess a minimum of administrative and
organizational talent and competence. Action programmes in
agriculture are bound to fail in a country without at least a small
group of indigenous professionals trained in agriculture.
iv) Balancing considerations of productivity and of equity is another
area of agricultural development policy. Policy makers in
agriculture are constantly confronted by the dilemma of
achieving maximum pay-offs in investments and ensuring at the
same time an equitable redistribution of resources particularly to
the under-privileged. If we concentrate resources on the more
promising regions for example, we shall be meeting the principle

147
 of productivity, but will it satisfy that of equity? In reality, it may
widen the gulf between the more and less privileged in the
society. We find that administrators are generally attracted to
the principle of productivity.

II. Structure and Operation of Administrative and Political

Factors:
(a) Administrative Factors:-
The colonial rule bequeathed on the nation personnel
unprepared to take responsibilities, to assume risks of
administration and that is totally committed to the observance of
rules of precedence and procedure. Innovation is rare, while
aloofness from the masses is the hallmark of the successful civil
servant. Colonial heritage (some good attributes
notwithstanding) poses insurmountable problems in a dynamic
society with many development problems which call for quick
action and sometimes radical changes. As long as
administrators refuse to become development – minded and
change their emphasis from status to performance, the structural
and procedural changes, however far-reaching are not likely to
be very effective.

It is this consideration that has raised question as to the

suitability of ministry of Agriculture in Africa as now constituted
for agricultural development. In fact, it has been suggested that
such a ministry should be scrapped and its functions given to an
agricultural development Authority which sufficiently insulated
from civil service norms and procedures (as found in sport
sector) to be able to carryout agricultural work with expedition
and innovativeness. This Ghana set the pace when, under

148
 President Kwame Nkrumah, it abolish its ministry of Agriculture,
though it later reintroduced it in a modified forms

The Ministry of Agriculture as it is presently constituted in Nigeria

has, a cabinet minister, a minister of State, Permanent Secretary,
Directors, other Senior Cadre Staff and Junior Cadre Staff with
Headquarters in Abuja. The Ministry supervises, various
Agricultural research Institutes, Colleges of Agriculture
Universities of Agriculture and other Parastatals under it and
coordinates such toward achieving its functions. This form of
administration though inherited from the colonial regime is quite
different because of the modified structure and indigenous ideas
and operating pattern.

Agriculture, under colonial regime was not meant to produce

food or deal with masses. Under colonial administration the
Ministry of Agriculture was dedicated to the collection of data,
anthropological studies of rural communities and the
management of a few market gardens and demonstration farms
for a handful of Europeans. Though post-Independence African
leaders inherited it they failed to change its functions. They
expected it to undertake food production, operate large –scale
extension and education programmes, and even yield revenue to
government. This accounts for the conflict in aims and
aspirations of administrators and politicians, and the tendency
for the latter to discredit the former when the new agricultural
policies are not carried out.

(b) Political Factors:

The way political power is exercised has a marked influence on
the allocation and mobility of economic resources. In Nigeria,

149
Political considerations are more dominant than the economic.
Politicians are usually their own economic advisers. And their
impact is greatest in the agricultural sector because of their need
for agricultural resources and the farming population for their
retention of power. The operation of political factors in
Agricultural development can be illustrated with a few examples.

Let us take the case of land policy. In many parts of Africa

Colonial administrators reserved certain areas as “Crown land”
and laid down rules and regulations preventing certain groups of
people from acquiring specific areas of the country. That
practice was continued after independence. As a result, for
example, intractable difficulties were put in the way of Southern
Nigerian acquiring land in the North. Many Southerners
therefore contended themselves with being share – croppers or
engaging entirely in business.

If the land policy had been flexible, it would facilitate labour

mobility and the development of the vast virgin land in the
North. Thus, the over 80 per cent of suitable but unoccupied
land in the North remains uninhabited while population pressure
increase in the South where only about 35 per cent of the land is
unfarmed.

The same restraining influence of policies on land is felt in the

area of human resources to carry out agricultural projects. Due
to the Craze for extreme regionalism and rabid tribalism,
Africans tend to be limited in their regions or states of origin.
The regions would rather hire expatriates than engage their
fellow nationals from other tribes or excellent programmes
because attempt to achieve national Unity through Youth

150
 employment in areas away from their states. Such serving youth
should be accepted in the State of posting and made to feel as
citizens of the same country and not as expatriates on contract.

The struggle to establish and maintain regional, state or National

Self-sufficiency and political stability robs Nigerians of the
energies to concentrate on actual development. Political powers
are so busy intriguing among themselves that production and
distribution interests of farmers suffer. There is definite lack of
political commitment to agricultural matters. After elections
farmers are taken for granted. Up to the ever of next election,
the leadership is pre-occupied with politics, giving verbal
patronage to agriculture. And where the Political leadership is
weak, there will be a consequent lack of political guidance,
supervision and control.

III. Guidelines For Future Agricultural Development.

The future of agriculture development lies in the knowledge and
appreciation of the many-sided problems of administration,
politics and policy discussed already. It also hinges on the
elimination of the deficiencies militating against them. Based on
this a few guidelines based on the three broad areas of
administration, politics and policy are offered.

1) Administrative Arrangements:_
Changes in the present administrative set-up are desirable if
agricultural development policies are to be achieved. An
Institutional arrangement where the personnel are observers and
not actors and which is distantly connected with the “patient”
(the farmer) only be remote control is inimical. The following
suggestions are made for improvement:-

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(a) The administrative class should have more freedom to take
responsibilities and be accountable for them. In short, there
should be levels of competence and each officer should be
praised or blamed for the way he carries out his own assignment.
(b) New schemes of work incentives other than seniority should be
introduced to get out the best in administrators. These are
honourable mentions, certificates for meritorious service, paid
token holiday and salary increments.
(c) The agricultural ministry should be, as far as possible
decentralized. Agricultural personnel should operate from rural
areas as teachers, pastors and medicos do.
(d) Finally, ministries of agriculture are due for change. They have
outlined their usefulness. As constituted they are two or more
decades behind time. As it were they can not be a veritable tool
of achieving the millennium development goal of halving hunger
and poverty by 2015.

2) Political Set – Up.

The political factor in Agricultural development policy is a reality.
Our task then is to put in its rightful place rather than try to
ignore it or Brush it aside.
a) One of the pre-conditions for agricultural development is the will
by political leadership to promote the interest of agriculture.
This goes beyond mere recognition and acceptance. Politicians
and government should be directly involved.
b) The second is, political consciousness, stability and continuity.
Agriculture needs political stability to develop. If political
stability is not evident planning will be distorted and haphazard.
c) The winning of an election or the assumption of political power
by any means does not in any way confer on the bearer
omniscience or extraordinary wisdom. Consultations with

152
 agricultural researchers and experts is inevitable to avoid
moribund and white –elephant projects, wastages and to as far
as possible put the interest of productivity before that of equity
(federal character /quota system) in economic matters.
3) Formulation of Agricultural Policy.
It will be wrong if we gave the impression that the fault for
agricultural ills lies only with administrators and politicians.
Perhaps, it is right to say that in developing countries policy-
makers are equally to blame for the many failures in agriculture.
(a) Planning is fundamental to agricultural development. In times
past anthropologists parade the view that what was needed in
Nigerian agriculture was to sow seeds, relax and let nature
provide an abundance harvest. This ldylic picture of the “noble
savage” cannot be taken seriously today” the truth is that
agricultural development requires planning in order to define
problems, establish goals and evolve suitable policies.
(b) Many agricultural development planners ignore the fact that
planning requires proper emphasis on administrative and
organizational aspects of government which have political and
social implications. Since administration is important to
agricultural development any policy for the attainment of the
latter must take into account the strengths and weakness of
administrative machinery and its possible reforms if the policies
are to be fully implemented.
(c) Another weakness in agricultural planning is the creation by
planners of administrative bottle-necks and lags between
promises and performance by the inclusion of a series of
improvisations calculated to be self –executory. If a plan is to be
implemented it should be formulated realistically taking into
consideration the limitations imposed by the economy, the
political and social systems, and the capacities of administration.

153
(d) Another weakness in policy formulation according to Meier
(1965) is the high degree of sophistication and econometric
models in formulation of plans. This tendency to bookishness is
popular among researchers, consultants and PhD student and it
is also styled as “Documentation – orientation” as against” action
–orientation”. In other words, the over-riding objectives of
planning technicians is a neat and elegantly written plan and not
the implementation.

In conclusion, Agricultural development policies are bound to get more

complex and intricate in future. Strategies for their achievement must
therefore be mounted on many fronts. Policy –makers, administrators
and politicians shall heed training in their own and in one another’s
spheres. This will put agriculture on a sound foundation for further
development.

Revision Questions
1. Explain Six Uniqueness of agriculture that distinguish it from
industry or manufacturing sector.
2. Highlight Five administrative challenges in Agricultural
development policy.
3. explain two policy implications of the uniqueness of agriculture
discussed above.
4. Suggest two measures each as remedies to flaws in
administrative, political and policy factors in agricultural
development policy.
5. Who is to blame – politicians or administrators for the ills in the
agricultural development of Nigeria.
6. With the trends in global agricultural development, do you think
ministries of Agriculture are still relevant in Nigerian System.

154
7. Which is better in Agricultural development administration – the
colonial regime or post independent governments.

Suggested Further Reading:

Meier, G.M. (1965). The Development Decade in Perspective. Paper
Presented at the Cambridge Conference on “Obstacles to
Development” (MIMEO) P. 20.

Akinyosoye, V.O. (2005). Government and Agriculture in Nigeria.

Lagos: Macmillan Publishers.

Ijere, M.O. (1989). Reading in Nigerian Agricultural Policy and

Planning. Port Harcourt.

COLONIAL POLICY IN NIGERIAN AGRICULTURE AND ITS

IMPLEMENTATION

OLATOMIDE W. OLOWA
Department of Agricultural Education
Federal College of Education (tech), Akoka

Highlights;-
- The Policy Thrust
- The Strategies and Implementation
- Summary
- Revision Questions.

155
Introduction and Policy Thrust.

The Nigerian Land Policy of the Nineteen Century encapsulate the

colonial policy in Nigerian agriculture. The main thrust of colonial
policy in Nigerian agriculture at that time was that agriculture be
carried on in the traditional forms of African land tenure without
mechanization or plantations. The reason for this given by colonial
authority was the economic and social upheavals connected with
plantation agriculture that had occurred in East Africa.

In 1926, Sir Clifford who was the governor at that time clarified the
colonial policy as follows: “Great Britain is a manufacturing country
which depends very largely for is new products upon other countries
and largely upon tropical countries. It is important that the tropical
countries within the British Empire should produce these products in
ever – increasing quantities of the highest quality. It is important that
Nigeria should be able to produce, and not Nigeria (only) but other
colonies, the maximum of raw materials”.

British policy was therefore the creation of money economy in which

commercial agricultural export was the key factor. Its prosecution and
expansion would rest on the shoulders of the native peasantry.

Strategies and Implementation:

To achieve this, the people would be educated in scientific and
economic methods of agricultural implements of a superior type to
those locally manufactured. The British administration evolved a clean
division of functions from the start. While African peasants grew
agricultural products, European trading companies processed and
marked the, and the administration would prepare and maintain the

156
conditions – political, moral and material – upon which the success or
failure of such enterprises in a very large measure depends.

Although the colonial administration in Nigeria had areserved the

country’s trade and commerce to British Private companies, the latter
were not allowed to enjoy their monopoly uncontested. German
proved to be a stiff competitor. The effect of this competition is seen
in fluctuation in agricultural exports’. For example, British’s share of
Palm products in the International trade fell from 65 percent in 1922
to 31 percent in 1937. Cocoa rose from 5 percent in 1921 to 19
percent in 1937, and groundnuts from 4 percent in 1923 to 24 percent
in 1933. Great Britains share in Nigerian exports amounted to 67
percent in 1921 – 1923, but declined in 1923 – 1938. It was 55 percent
in 1926, and 44.2percent in 1929; 37 percent in 1931 and 51 percent
in 1938. On the other hand German trade showed a rising trend: 7.6
percent in 1921; 8.5 percent in 1922; 12 percent in 1923; 19.4 percent
in 1929, and 17.4 percent in 1938.

To obviate German encroachment in its economic preserves, Britain

during the world war took over oil crushing machines established by
German before world war 1. Further Britain imposed a preferential
export duties, a 2 pounds per tone in 1919 and had it withdrawn in July
1922, largely as a result of French competition and alternative sources
of supply, mainly whale oil.

To focus attention on Peasant agriculture, the government restricted

manufactures of the 102 foreign nonmining farms in 1921 in Nigeria
only 7 were allowed to engage actively in manufacturing. The figure
rose toll in 1936.

157
Secondly, there was to be no manufacture of cotton textiles in Nigeria.
The United African Company (UAC), for example, was discouraged from
starting a spinning and weaving mill near the cotton area in Nigeria. In
1934 the government enacted an imported textiles ordinance which
diverted the sources of supplies for manufactured commodities.
Finally a high export duty was imposed on palm product extraction.
The government was determined to do everything in its power to
promote peasant agriculture for the export sector.

Cotton production was to be encouraged hence colonial government

embarked on the following:-
- Supply of healthy seeds
- Provision of free cotton and buying station established.
- A fixed price of one penny per pound was adopted.
- Low rates were fixed for the shipment of ginned cotton by
railways
- Local authorities were allotted grants to encourage the
planting of cotton in the Kano districts.
- The Empire cotton Growing Association was established to
popularize the growing of cotton in Northern Nigeria.

In spite of this, cotton was not grown enthusiastically in the Kano

region, as farmers found it more profitable to plant groundnuts instead.

In 1920, Agricultural Extension Officers were supplied – to visit the

farmers and undertake practical demonstrations. The work of
demonstration could not, however, be carried on without the
establishment of model farms and research stations. This led to the
establishment of the Moor Plantation in 1899, the British Cotton
Growing Corporation research Station 1905 (abandoned in 1910). The
department of Agriculture assumed the function of British Cotton

158
Growing Corporation with the establishment of three agricultural
stations in the North (Ilorin, Margaina and Kaduna) and Four in the
South (Agege, Calabar, Ibadan and Onitsha). These stations also serve
as research centre.

Agricultural research was regionalized along with agriculture in 1951,

and as a result each region undertook research projects, specific to its
own area. There remained a Federal Ministry of Agriculture with the
research arm at moor plantation in Ibadan.

To cover domestic food crops a shift of emphasis was needed which

came in 1955 with the establishment of the Agricultural Technical
Committee, a body dedicated to making possible a more abundant
supply of food for a growing population.

The department also distributed hand presses and pedal-driven nut-

cracking machines in the extractive process of palm oil production to
enhance productivity.

The extent of success achieved through state intervention can be

demonstrated by two crops – palm produce and cocoa. In 1960, the
combined earnings of both palm oil and palm kernel accounted for
40.1 million while cocoa production attain 100 000 tons in 1939 and
150,000 in 1960 and inspite of summary:

Summary
In summary, there was no consistent plan or blue print by Colonial
administrators for Nigerian agriculture, but there was nonetheless a
clear – cut policy of what role agriculture was expected to play in the
economy. First, agriculture was to serve as the major for the
satisfaction of the economic needs of the mother country, providing

159
raw materials and offering a training ground for British experts
experimenting a tropical agriculture.

Second, there was a division of functions between the participants,

namely British administrators and commercial interests, on the one
hand, and African peasants on the other. In words and by examples
there objectives were prosecuted with great fervor, and no stone was
left unturned to lead the weight of government to their realization. As
a result certain export crops became dominant in the Nigerian
economy, earnings foreign exchange, absorbing labour and saving as
the nuclei of the rising middle class of entrepreneurs.

Revision Questions

1. Highlights the Policy thrust of the colonial administration in

Nigerian Agriculture.
2. What major export crops were dominants and in what region of
the country were they produced during the colonial era.
3. Would you say the policies during the colonial administration in
Nigeria was beneficial to the country?

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING:-

Ijere, M.O. (1983), Reading in Nigerian Agricultural Policy and Planning.

Port Harcourt . Pp 7-13.

Tokuro, M.F. (1977). Economic Development in the third World. New

York; Longman.

160
 STATE PLANNING OF AGRICULTURE – NIGERIA EXPERIENCE

B.T. OMONONA
Department of Agricultural Economics.
University of Ibadan, Ibadan

HIGHLIGHTS:-
- Introduction
- Capital Investment
- The World Bank and Development Plans
- The Post – Independence Experience
- Some Lessons of Agricultural Planning

161
 - Revision Questions.

INTRODUCTION
State planning for Agriculture in Nigeria started with Colonial
administration and is best studied as part of planning of the general
economy of which agriculture forms a part. Looking at the whole
scene, we shall be able to see state action as it affected agriculture in
a better light.

Capital Investment
The first capital investments in Nigeria were undertaken by the British
government and foreign commercial and trading companies. Amount
invested in Nigeria between 1870 – 1937 amounted roughly 77.087
million pounds; 25 million pounds of which came from foreign private
enterprises (Frankel 1955). These investments were done with other
aims, which though not coordinated were nevertheless part of the
colonial interest. For example, for creation of trading relations and
connections the suppression of slave trading relations and pacification
of the country. A proper development programme however demands
that capital should not only be invested, but be employed according
as the needs of the people demand it. In other words, it should be
done according to a definite plan.

The British Government Instituted the “Colonial Development and

welfare Act” in 1929, which provided capital for the development of
the colonies of which Nigeria was a part. This Act aimed at relieving
the economic depression in the United Kingdom, and stimulating
agricultural activity in the colonial territories.

In 1940, a new development Act was passed to encourage the

development of any colony or the welfare of the people. The Act was

162
however noted to have driven British interest to provide themselves
materials and food from their colonies. When it was realized that to
get these services based upon improved economic efficiency and
increased production was needful, A new commonwealth Development
and And Welfare Act 1945 was enacted. The Act made provision for a
sum of 120 million pounds for the period 1945 – 1956. The sum was
meant to form the nucleus of colonial development finance and the
allocations were to give a valuable impetus to the planning of
development. The fund was for the purpose of raising standard of
health, education social welfare and general well being of the people in
the colonies who were the perceived tools in the realization of their
goals.

As a British Colony, Nigeria received the sum of 26 million pounds as

part of her share from the “Colonial Development and Welfare Fund” of
the period 1945 – 1956. The sum were distributed as follows:-
21.4% for Transport
19.6% for Health
14.6% for Schools
12.9% for Agriculture
8.2% for Town and Village Planning
31.3% for Miscellaneous.

The post colonial era witnessed large capital investment by all levels of
government. A number of irrigation dam were constructed with
northern part of the country’s, while Research Institutes were
established. In the Southwest farm settlement stations were
established with adequate provision of infrastructure to attract youngs
hands unto the business of farming. Programmes such as operation
feed the Nation (OFN), Green Revolution (GR) Back to land, National
Agricultural Land Development (NALDA) were also capital intensive

163
ones meant to develop agriculture and farm-families by various civilian
and military regime in Nigeria.

The World Back and Development Plans:

The first time The World Bank would show interest in Nigerian
Economy was in 1953 when it sent 15 experts (from 7 different
countries) to study the economic conditions of the country and submit
a comprehensive report that will how it was to be financed.

The Report placed a great importance on agriculture, emphasizing the

need for its promotion since it forms the basis of the economy of the
country. The respective regional governments were expected to
undertake research into soil, plant and animal food. Model farms were
to be further expanded, to bring to the home of farmers the various
modern cultivation methods and techniques and the application of
manure. The report further recommended an improvement of the
credit institutions, a mobilization of local savings and the
encouragement of foreign investments.

The Development plan for the year 1955-60, which was based on the
report of the World Bank already mentioned, aimed at the promotion
above all, of education and health, agriculture, urban and rural water
supply and road construction.

On a federal level the plan recommended the establishment of

agricultural and research institutes. On the regional, the North
undertook projects for the fighting and control of tse-tse flies,
mechanization of agriculture and promotion of fodder economy as well
as the application of chemical manures. The West concentrated on the
establishment of agricultural schools, and promotion of poultry and

164
milk production. The Eastern region established experimented stations
and agricultural mechanization where possible. The Southern
Cameroon’s emphasis on the control of cocoa pod disease,
improvement, of plantations and cultivation.
In addition, regional government (in 1954) undertook the resettlement
of over populated regions. Hand in hand with resettlement projects
were the partnership schemes which were most note worthy in
Western Nigeria. Regional production Development Boards were set
up to provide the capital and trained personnel while the people
supplied labour, so that the population first of all learned, and in the
end was in the position to take over the administration and
management of the farms.

Since the fields in agriculture are dependent not only on the basic
production requirements, but also considerably on the knowledge and
efficiency of the farmer, the development Boards later the
Development corporations which either instruct the farmers in their
farms or which themselves establish farm estates, new and better
techniques were discovered and introduced into agriculture.

The extent of capital requirement to finance the development projects

of Nigeria in the 1955-6- Plan deviated considerably from those of the
World Bank, because of the rise in prices since the time of the report.
For the period 1955-60 the Government of Nigeria estimated the
expenditure of the sum of 189.553 million pounds compared to
123.951 of the world bank the breakdown of the estimates of the
governments according to Ijere (1983) are:
19.3% for Reads
8.8% for Education
6.7% for Post and Television
2.02% for Agriculture (Despite its alleged importance).

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In the estimates of the World Bank:
16.3% was for road
15.3% was for health
8.7% was for Public works
8.1% was for education
2.3% was for agriculture

In 1954, on the advise of the International Bank Mission, The Regional

production Development Boards (RPDB) and the loans Board were
fused to become Regional Development Corporations. The RPDBs
were established to develop the economy by stimulating the
production of various agricultural products.

The Development Corporations were saddled with heavy undertakings

as such created divisions to cater for these. Four divisions were
created namely agricultural and plantations division, the industrial and
commercial division, the Accounts and the administration.

The aims of the Agricultural divisions had not been the same
throughout the years and regions. At the initial stages, the aim was to
set up a few plantations in various parts of the regions so that the local
community could copy from them. This meant that a great emphasis
was placed more on demonstration than on profit.

The Development Corporations were an ambitious innovation to carry

out agricultural projects. Their success in Great Britain Encouraged
Nigerian leaders to utilize them in the service of Nigeria agriculture
and industry. They were, however, not as successful in Nigeria. Their
projects were in many cases grandiose, ill-conceived, without

166
feasibility studies and lacking in qualitative and quantitative guide
lines.

Nigeria Agriculture at Independence in 1960 has had over 60 years of

experience in a colonial-oriented, dependent economy. Demands of
post-colonial development in area of Industry, employment and
dynamic transformation to meet the needs of an independent country
changed the role of the state from that of legislation and bureaucratic
support to one of active involvement and the engendering of realistic
planning and diversification within the context of an integrated
national economy.

Post – Independence Experience (A Summary)

Government policy actions are made known through budgets; plans
and Rolling plans. We shall take brief look at various plans and
government priorities post-independence that is from 1960 to 2010.

The following are the National plans and Rolling Plans. The country
have had since independence till date:
First National Development Plan 1962 – 1968
Second National Development Plan 1970 – 1974
Third National Development Plan 1975 – 1980
Fourth National Development Plan 1981 – 1985
First National Rolling Plan 1990 – 1992
Second National Rolling Plan 1991 – 1993
Third National Rolling Plan 1992 – 1994
Fourth National Rolling Plan 1993 – 1995

Again, we shall do an overview of these Plans and rolling plans in terms

of the general economy of which agriculture forms a part in a stylized
summary. After Independence, the direction of economic policy was

167
dictated by a number serious problems facing the country such as high
rate of illiteracy, low per capita income, low purchasing power
inadequate infrastructures, and very few modern industries. The
foreign exchange base of the country was very narrow comprising
mainly of agricultural commodities which were vulnerable to economic
cycles of the Industrialized nations. Among those Crop that were
reknown then were cocoa, palm produce, groundnut, cotton and
rubber. The first development plan covered the period 1962 to 1968
but its implementation was interrupted by the Civil War from 1967 to
1969. This was followed the Second National Plan (1970 – 1974), third
development 1975 to 1980 and the rest of them.

Generally, the fundamental objectives of the macro economic policy

pursued within the period under reviews in Nigeria are:
- Economic growth and development
- Price stability
- Self reliance and
- Social equity

Economic development activities carried out in Nigeria since the nation

got her Independence can be grouped into two major periods namely
1960 to 1985 and 1986 to 1993. The first period concides with the
(1986 to 1993) was characterized by more liberal policies involving
greater reliance on market forces in the coordination of economic
activities. For any of the planned documents, the policy instrument
used are:-
- Fiscal policy instruments
- Monetary policy instruments
- Income policy instruments
- Trade and Commercial policy instruments
- Exchange rate policy instruments.

168
Some Lessons of Agricultural Planning
There was no doubt that Nigerian Colonial administration regarded
agriculture as crucial. When critically examined the investments in
agriculture do not justify the acclaimed high place given to it by the
colonial regime. The same is true when again we find agriculture
claiming the lowest per cent of the budget in the 1955 -60
Development plan as also it did in that of the World Bank Report.
The period after the Independence also revealed that with various
plans and rolling plans plus various policy instruments utilized
agriculture continues to decline in its contribution to the economy and
gross domestic product (GDP), when it declines from nearly 60% of
GDP and 80% of export earnings to a negative agriculture is still in it
state of commatus as the state planning instrument is bedeviled by
politicking.

Revisions Questions
1. Draw an assessment of colonial Administration planning for state
as it affect agricultural development in Nigeria.
2. What the lessons to be learnt from the World bank
recommendations and colonial administration budget of 1955 to
1960 in Nigeria.
3. In your own view, How has Nigeria fair so far in terms of planning
for Agriculture.

Suggested Further Reading:-

Frankel, S.H. (1955). The Economic Impact on Underdeveloped

Societies. Oxford P. 138.

169
Federal Republic of Nigeria 0 First National Development Plan 1962 –
68 Lagos.

Federal Republic of Nigeria – Fourth National Rolling Plan 1993 – 1995

Abuja.

THE CONCEPT OF AGRICULTURAL FUNDAMENTALISM AS A

DEVELOPMENT POLICY

OLATOMIDE W. OLOWA

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

170
 FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECH), AKOKA

HIGHLIGHTS:-
- Introduction
- Dimensions in Agricultural Fundamentalism
- Limitations in Agricultural Fundamentalism
- The Farmer’s Rightful place.
- Revision Questions.

INTRODUCTION
Agricultural fundamentalism argues that agriculture is the most
important and bedrock of other Industries (in terms of development),
and that farmers are Kings and livewire of a society and as such
deserve special consideration. This believe has inadvertently moulded
policies, affected national budgets and influenced resource allocation
in many countries. To Neglect or allow indifference on the other hand
is regarded as unpatriotic and a misplacement of priorities.

Four other dimensions is discernible about / in Agricultural

fundamentalism. They are:-
1. The believe that rural life is the only embodiment of the highest
and noblest virtues of which the fabric of a nation is formed (the
orthodox concept).
2. The modern tendency for extreme protectionism for agriculture
(concern for rural life).
3. The maintenance that only the disciplines which deal with food
production are the true promoters of agriculture.
4. The promotion of agriculture as a cloak for political gain (Pseudo-
agricultural fundamentalism).

171
We shall now do a survey of agricultural fundamentalism in its
historical perspective under the above- mention sub-divisions.

1. The Orthodox Concept

Agricultural fundamentalists maintain that farmers are the ones
whose sweat and toil produced the food that has nourished
people these millions of years, and whose tie to the good earth
made the foundations for the cultures and civilizations of their
own generation and following generations.

According to History, The great Civilizations of Egypt Assyrias

Babylonia in ancient time, the epoch – making Industrial revolution
that England pioneered in the 18th Century, the great African Ecpires of
S’onghay, Mali, Ghana and many more, had their basis on agriculture.

Little wonder then, that agriculture has been regarded by many as

primus inter pares among industries, and the fundamental, absolutely
controlling Keystone of the nation’s economic and business structure.
The farmer is seen as the most essential cog in the driving wheel of
Industrial Society, the greatest producer, and buyer and the
sustenance of a nation’s prosperity.

According to Greig (1929) “From the standpoint of area, or wealth, or

population employed, agriculture is by far the most important activity
in British Empire; The true wealth of the world, the wealth which
determines the standard of living of nations, is limited by the capacity
to produce cereals, milk, meat, wool, cotton, hides and other prime
necessities of life, of soil origin, without a sufficient supply of these,
progress in the art of living is impossible Oyenuga (1967) in his book
Agriculture in Nigeria, said that “agriculture is the main source, not
only of the food supply, but of many other basic necessities of life ……

172
agriculture is the source of the bulk of the resources needed for
educating the young, for health and other forms of social service”.

All these bear witness to the widespread conviction that the prosperity
of the nation depends on agriculture.

Concern For Rural Life:

The attachment to agricultural fundamentalism is projected in a
serious concern for rural life. The Africans of Colonial masters days
were called “noble savage” leading a happy-go-lucky life in rural
setting, carrying on agricultural activities on traditional lines because,
they are natural growths, not artificial creations, are self-supporting as
regards Labour. The vision of Nigerian development by the colonial
master, was of an agricultural society, based on the village, technically
improved, wisely guided by more educated chiefs, and later by
democratic counselors. This according to them would least disturb the
cultural pattern of Nigerian.

An extreme form of the concern for rural life is the nostalgia for
primitivism. Adherents of primitivism engage in reconstructing the
past, and demonstrating that primitive man was better than
contemporary man. To the proponent the nearer we are to nature the
better for society.

3. The Agricultural Fundamentalism of Universities:-

Another kind of Agricultural fundamentalism is found in academic
circles, particularly in agricultural universities and colleges, where the
bio-physical aspects of agriculture are enthroned at the expense of the
socio-economic. These fundamentalists believe that only the food
production disciplines like plant and soil science, horticulture and

173
animal science are essential. To them there should be nothing like
agricultural economics and extension.

Discussions on agricultural planning, marketing, finance and the

absorption process are regarded as abstract and irrelevant to the
farmer. The problem of Nigerian agriculture, according to the
academic fundamentalists is lack of food production. Such incidents as
famine or drought are capitalized as evidence of the failure of
agriculture to provide the answer to the sufferings of the people. It
does not occur to them that famine or food scarcity can be the result,
for example of market and transport imperfections, and that except
the crop has been consumed, it is of no importance to the citizen.
Therefore, the process of diffusing innovation, just as the elements of
marketing and finance are as important as actual production.

Agronomists and their colleagues do not appreciate the extent to

which agricultural economics can be applied to agriculture. The
experts put their emphasis more on size of crops and quality of soil,
and rations being nutritionally balanced, and not on producing these at
the lowest cost which is basic to maximizing profit to the firm.

4. Pseudo – agricultural Fundamentalists:-

People sing the praises of agriculture, using it to achieve private
ends but do little or nothing to promote it. This is the attitude of
Psedo-agricultural fundamentalist. The farmer is most important at
election time but becomes nonentity in-between. It is easy for
politician to shout. The farmer is most important at election time but
becomes nonentity in-between. It is easy for politician to shout
“agricultural fundamentalism” thereby hypnotizing the farmer into
believing that somebody is taking care of his interests. But in reality, it

174
is nothing but words and promises, without the desire to implement
them.

Every Nigerian development plan stresses that agriculture is the key

sector, and mainstay of the National economy, these plans set out in
elegant language and flawless economic logic the policies strategies
for realizing them; as well as the benefits to be derived by farmers if
the plans are implements. To the chargrin of many, the emphasis on
agriculture is not indicated by their budgets.

In no other sector is there so much confusion and inconsistency as in

agriculture. In the space of Nine years Nigeria have had atleast six
agricultural policies from Obasanjo to Yar’adua. Without any of them
implemented to the fullest. For example, the Cassava drive for export
was launched whereas farmers were not given incentives (loan,
processing facilities) to operate optimally within this policy framework.

Limitations in Agricultural Fundamentalism

1. Size alone is not the Supreme Index of Importance.
The importance of a man is very imperfectly indicated by his
height, his weight, his age, wealth or income. Nor is the
importance of a Nation or its wealth.
2. It is an exaggeration to insist that agriculture is uniquely
essential. Air and water can be said to be even more vital
necessities than food, though because of their abundance, only a
small proportion of human effort is required to provide them
where they are lacking. Although food is not likely to be as
easily procurable as water, yet beyond a certain point it is
equally wasteful of human energy to expend efforts increasing
the supply, especially in advanced countries. “ Man does not live
by bread alone”.

175
3. Alternatives measures to increase food production have been
established. For example, there is the addition of food
supplements from chemists in the form of iron tablets, protein
capsules and vitamin pills.
4. There are countries where the farmers’ part in producing food is
not the largest fraction of the production process. It more often
goes into transportation, processing and merchandising for
example, than in actual production. What the consumer often
gets is different from what the farmer sells. Take the case of
akara balls, for example, the farmer’s share of the consumer’s
Naira has declined because an increased share of that Naira has
been earned by others who have contributed to the final product.
5. Then, not all farmers are essential to production. The aggregate
importance of farm products is very great, but not their marginal
importance. The elimination of farmer is unthinkable. But the real
questions concern the importance of the moderate additions or
reductions in the number of farmers and the supply of farm products.
With air and water relatively abundant, we properly regard those who
provide us water and air-conditioners as essential; but we do not
magnify their importance simply because air and water are initially
necessary. The two situations are essentially similar, except in regard
to the number of persons involved.

Why do so many people embrace agriculture despite the risks and

hardships? The answer lies in the fact that it demands minimum
outlay to enter and requires little training as well. Farming assures
independence similar to that found in retailing. It offers an opportunity
to co-operate with nature.

The Farmer’s Rightful Place

176
From the economic tendencies discussed above, it is pertinent to say
that there is little basis for fears about food shortage if the number in
agriculture is reduced. Efforts to ensure an adequate food supply
persist but they are not necessarily dependent on the efforts of
farmers. It is therefore not justified to increase the number of people
in agriculture vis “back-to-land”, farm settlement scheme
programmes.

A declining importance of agriculture does not mean its decadence in

respect to the efficiency of farming or the quality of farm population.
Rather, the rise of farming efficiency always accompanies a declining
importance of agriculture, and the experience of advanced countries
bears this out.

On the question of rural life and virtues, agriculture has no superiority

in respect of healthfulness and wholesomeness of living conditions.
Industrial cities today have their parks, lawns, gardens and orchards.
Nor is the possession of noble virtues the monopoly of rural society,
for, with advances in modern sciences, the rural society, for, with
advances in modern sciences, the rural community is bombarded with
the same communications media as the urban.

The contention of academics that only food production is to be

promoted against planning, extension and marketing is a highly
restricted view and suffers from the same weakness as similar earlier
hypothesis. Emphasis on food production to the neglect of planning is
faulty and misplaced.

In conclusion, the welfare of the farmer depends on his ability to earn a

respectable living as an individual and not whether agriculture is pre-
eminent or not. His share of the national income should not be based

177
on the economic sector or the size of the group, but largely on his
efficiency.

Finally, there is no such thing as agricultural development except as

part of a broader programme for national development. If agriculture
is to develop in Nigeria or in other similar economics, changes must
occur far beyond the reaches of the agricultural sector. What is
required is a mutually – supporting process, involving simultaneous
advance in both agriculture and industry, with the nature and
dimensions of the advance in each sector being adapted to the
resources, markets, and other conditions of the country in question.

The doctrinal statements of agricultural fundamentalism might be

suitable for whipping up sentiments, but not as instruments of national
policy. And the condition of the Nigerian farmer is not likely to be
improved by more reliance on that philosophy.

Revision Questions
1. What do you understand by the concept of Agricultural
fundamentalism.
2. Mention Four other dimensions in Agricultural Fundamentalism.
3. Summarize the argument of Agricultural Fundamentalist of
Universities.
4. Who are the Culprits in Pseudo-agricultural Fundamentalism and
Why?
5. State the Limitations of Agricultural Fundamentalism.
6. Is it justifiable to send more people into the farm in the modern
Nigeria?

Suggested Further Reading:-

178
1. Greg, R.B. (1930). Report of the 97th meeting of the British
Association of the Advancement of Science, London, P. 231.
2. Oyenuga, V. A. (1967). Agriculture in Nigeria. FAO/UN, Rome
P.1.
3. Ijere, M.O. (1983) Reading in Nigerian Agricultural Policy and
Planning Port – Harcourt.

179
 INSTITUTIONS AND PROGRAMMES FOR AGRICULTURAL
DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA (1959-2006)

A.A FALADE
Department of Agricultural Education
Federal College of Education (Technical)
Akoka, Lagos.

INTRODUCTION
Before the discovery of crude oil, Agriculture has been the main
source of sustenance of Nigerian economy by providing food, raw
materials, employment opportunity and foreign exchange
earnings.
As a result of the importance of Agriculture to National
development, successive Nigerian governments brought about
different forms of agricultural programmes for the purpose of
facilitating improved production in the sector. Some of the
programmes and institutions are listed and discussed in this
chapter. These include:
1. Farm settlement scheme
2. Commodity Boards
3. National Accelerated food production programme (NAFPP)
4. Agricultural Development Projects (ADP)
5. Operation feed the Nation (OFN)
6. River Basin Development Authorities (RBDA)
7. Agricultural Credit Guarantees Scheme (ACGS)
8. National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS)
9. Green Revolution Programme (GRP)

180
10. Strategic Grain Reserve Programme (SGRP)
11. Directorate of food, Road and Rural Infrastructure (DIFRRI)
12. National Directorate of employment (NDE)
13. National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA)
14. Better life for Rural Women programme (BLP)
15. Family support programme (FSP)
16. Family Economic Advancement programme (FEAP)

Farm Settlement Scheme

This programme was first established by the Western Region
Government in 1959. The sole objective of this programme was
to attract young people such as primary school leavers to
Agriculture. Some selected youths were trained in farm
operations before they were given farm land in the settlement.
Some years later, similar programmes named Back-to-the-land
and graduate farming scheme (GFS) were established in 1984 by
the River state and Lagos state government respectively.
Commodity Board
The commodity boards were established in 1977. Seven of such
were launched but were abolished in 1986 following the
government’s market deregulation policy under the structural
adjustment programme (SAP).

Natinal Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP)

In order to increase farmer’s income, accelerate the rate of
disseminating new agricultural technology and serve as a tool for
testing, adopting and adapting agricultural research discoveries
to real farm situation, National accelerated food production

181
programme was established in 1973. The programme aimed at
raising the production of arable crops such as cassava, rice,
maize, guinea corn, millet and wheat by providing relevant
inputs, processing and storage facilities.

Agricultural Development Projects (ADP)

This programme was launched in 1974. Three pilot projects were
established at funtua in Katsina state, Gombe in Gombe state and
Gusau in Zamfara state. The aim of the programme was to
improve agricultural productivity and the quality of rural life.
Considering the success of the programme, the government
extended it to cover the whole Nation. The financial involvement
was shared by the World Bank (45%) the Federal Government
(25%) and the state Government (30%).

Operation Feed The Nation (OFN)

OFN was established in 1976 for the purpose of encouraging the
rural and urban people to bring about an increased publicity for
agricultural production. This was to induce more participation in
agricultural production so as to boost self-sufficiency through
agricultural production and to reduce food importation in Nigeria.
Although, this programme was replaced with the Green
Revolution programme in 1980, it recorded some success while in
existence.

River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAS)

182
The main objective of launching this programme in 1976, among
others was to explore the water resources and enhance
agricultural and rural development. The government embarked
on irrigation projects to guard against the negative experience
brought about by drought in the 1970swhen the nation lost about
40-60 percent of the grain crops to drought.

Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS)

This scheme was established in 1977 under the control of the
central Bank of Nigeria. It was charged with the role of lending
money to farmers and ensure guarantee in respect of loans given
by commercial banks.

National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS)

The purpose of setting up this scheme in 1988, among others,
was to provide a kind of buffer to farmers against natural
disasters and other risks. This scheme was established such that
all farmers who receive loan from any bank take an insurance
policy. The government was bearing half of the premium while
the farmers had to bear the remaining half.
However, the insurance policy covers only a few arable crops
such as maize and rice. The animals that are covered include
cattle and poultry. The insurance for farm machinery, farm
building and other equipment are at the usual commercial rates.

Green Revolution Programme (GRP)

This programme was created in 1980 and the main objective was
to cater for some of the lapses observed in the operation feed the

183
Nation (OFON). It was meant to adequately meet the needs of
peasant farmers and generally enhance the development of rural
areas so as to boost food supply in Nigeria.
Although this programme (GRP) has been phased out, the
purpose has been incorporated into the ADPs.

Strategic Grain Reserve Programme (SGRP)

As part of the federal Government efforts to prevent lack or
scarcity of food during National disasters whether natural or man-
made, this programme was launched to store national grain seed
at strategic locations throughout the whole country. To this
effect, steel silos with a total capacity of 125,000 tones of dry
grains has been constructed in five locations in the country and
another set to store 250,00 tones was completed in 1989.
In addition, the federal government equally initiated other
national grain storage programme which include the grain buffer-
stock storage programme and an-on-farm grain storage
programme.

Directorate Of Foods, Roads And Rural Infrastructure

(DIFRRI)
The provision of rural infrastructure to enhance food production
and processing was the main aim of establishing DIFRRI in 1986.
Rural development through proper harnessing of human, natural
and mineral resources was the targets of this programme. The
immediate environment of the rural populace is improved
through provision of other infrastructures.

184
National Directorate Of Employment (NDE)
This scheme was launched in late 1986. The aim was to increase
food production, reduce poverty and create employment for the
unemployed. The programme emphasized the provision of
adequate training in agriculture in all the states of the federation.
Youths who were interested in farming were trained, given land
and loans to take off in farming business.

National Agricultural Land Development Authority

(NALADA)
This was launched as a parastatal under the monitoring of the
federal ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It was
established by decree 92 of 1992 as part of the government’s
efforts in alleviating poverty. NALADA focused on land
development, provision of subsidized inputs to farmers and
farmer’s cooperatives as well as facilitating economic farm
holdings.

Better Life For Rural Women Programme (BLP)

The rural women were the focus of this programme. BLP was
established in 1987 as another poverty alleviation strategy. The
objective include the development of the rural women towards
being self reliant, to realize their potential and encourage them to
positively contribute to National development. Also, the
programme was meant to introduce rural women to technique of
food processing, packaging and storage.

185
Family Support Programme (FSP)
This programme was launched in 1994 to enhance the beginning
of supportive programmes that will also help the craving of
Nigerian families to be better prepared to deal with the
challenges of living useful life in an increasingly complex world.
The programme was sectionalized into different groups such as;
education, Agriculture, child welfare and youth development,
disability and destitution, income generation and shelter. The
agricultural section of the FSP emphasized on increasing small
holder production of livestock, improving the diet and source of
income of the family, procurement and installation of low-cost
agro-processing and packaging equipment, providing credit
facilities for homestead fish production.

Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP)

FEAP was created in 1997 to improve the living standard of the
rural populace. The government, among other things, have some
goals for the programme. These include the establishment of
cottage industries, provision of locally fabricated machineries and
equipment to facilitate technology development at the local level.

Fadama I,II, III, Projects: A World bank rural and

agricultural development assisted programme. Under this
Scheme, benefitting community or groups are required to
open an account with a deposit of between 10-30% of the
project cost, they are seeking World Bank assistance. Such

186
project must be viable and capable of generating revenues for
repayment of the granted fund.
Cassava Drive for Export: This is a recent policy of the
federal government it was commenced in 2003 during the
second term of the Obasanjo administration.
Nigerian is the leading producer of cassava in Africa
(43.09MT). Cassava to be exported must be processed into dry
chips. Exportations are done to Thailand and Europe which are
the major end users. This major impediment to the success of
this policy is that most Nigerian farmers are not
knowledgeable as to the processing standard and there are
inadequate processing mills. It has also been speculated that
continuous export of cassava chips will make the product
expensive to consumers at home because few farmers that are
producing for local consumption will take advantage of the
excess demand to like the prices of cassava products.

Federal Government N50B loan to farmers: This policy

requires state government to make a counter part
contribution of N200m before citizens of their state origin can
benefit from the loan. Apart from this, a farmer who wishes to
benefit from the loan must compulsorily be a member of a
farmer association. The president/chairman of such
association must also append his signature before such
farmer be considered for the loan.
Cocoa Revitalisation Programme: Under the Obasanjo
regime, Erelu Obada, the deputy Governor of Osun State was
appointed the chairperson of this project. It was meant to

187
 raise cocoa production by providing cocoa seedlings to new
entrants and existing cocoa farmers. The program is also
expected to provide loans and incentives to farmers so as to
boast cocoa production and exportation.

National Economic Empowerment And Development Strategy

(Needs)
Nigeria faces serious poverty challenges and it is estimated that two-
thirds
Table of Nigerians
1: Policy Trusts andnow livefor
Targets below the poverty
Agriculture and Foodline of 1 in
Security U$$ per day,
Nigeria
most of Policy
them Trust
in rural areas, a figure thatTargets
is up from 43 percent in
1985.
[

Provide the right policy Achieve minimum annual growth

environment incentives for private rate of 6 percent in agriculture.
Recognizing
investment this challenges the Federal
in the sector. Government
Raise agricultural exports ofto Nigeria
$3 in
March 2004 aformally
Implement launched
new agricultural and billion by 2007. A major component
its National Economic Empowerment of
rural
anddevelopment
Development policyStrategy
aimed at these exports
(NEEDS) whichwill identifies
be cassava. agricultures and
reforming government and its institution reduce
addressing the constraints in the sector. Drastically as corefood elements
import of
Foster effective linkage with from 14.5 percent by 2007.
economic. Growth. The table below outlines Nigeria’s key policy thrust
industry to achieve maximum
for agriculture and food valuesecurity
added in theDevelop
NEEDS anddocument.
implement a scheme
and processing for export. of land preparation service to increase
Modernize production and create cultivable arable land by 10 percent a year
an agricultural sector that is responsive to and foster private sector participation
the demands and realities of the Nigerian through incentive schemes.
economy in order to create more Promote the adoption of
agricultural and rural employment environment friendly practices
opportunities, which will increase the Protect all prime agricultural
income of farmers and rural dwellers. production
Reverse the trend in the import of
food (which stood at 14.5 percent of total
imports at the end of 2001), through a
progressive programme for agricultural
expansion. The government is committed
to reducing the growing food import bill to
stem the rising trade imbalance as well as
diversify the foreign exchange earning
base.
Strive towards food security and a
food surplus that could be exported
Invest in improving the quality of
the environment in order to increase crop
yields

188
Source: Nigeria Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), 2004

Rural Economy Knowledge Support System (Rekss):

The is a newly proposed knowledge-based agricultural policy support
programme. The central activity of the proposed program would be the
creation of a system for managing and streamlining existing and new
knowledge on the rural economy, in all its various dimensions, to
provide a much stronger foundation for policy analysis and for
informing rural development strategy decision. The proposed Rural
Economy Knowledge Support System (REKSS) would provide a
framework for integrating on continuing and timely basis relevant
information that is already available or planned into a coherent
knowledge management system and for identifying important
information gaps that need to be filled.

It is expected that REKSS would be housed at the Ministry of

Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) but that some
components would also be housed at other Ministries and perhaps one

189
or two state government agencies, according to need. The program
would help build the capacity of relevant institution to fulfill this role.

Revision Questions
1.Mention the various efforts of different governments in
agricultural development in Nigeria since 1960
2. Give the full meaning of the following Acronyms ADP, OFN
GRP, FSP,NALDA,DFRRI,FEAP,BLRW

Suggested further reading

Ekemode K.O (2001) Agriculture for sustainable development
Aihonsu , J.O.Y (1999) Agricultural Transformation in Nigeria: A Critique
of Operation Feed the nation (OFN) and Green Revolution Programmes
(GRP) Nigeria Journal of Agricultural Education (NIJAGRED) 2 (1&2): 14-
20

Ekemode, K.O (1999). Institutional Design for the marketing of

Schedule Crops in Nigeria 1900-1999. Nigeria Journal of Agricultural
Education(NIJAGRED) 2 (1&2): 7-13

Federal Ministry of Agriculture (1984) Information Bulletin on Nigerian

Agriculture. Lagos: Government Press.

Source: Nigeria Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy

(NEEDS), 2004

190
 The New Nigerian Agricultural Development Policy

O.A. Olowa
Department Of Agricultural Education
Federal College Of Education (Tech), Akoka

Introduction
The previous agricultural policy document was finalized in 1988 and was
supposed to remain operative until the year 2000. Hence, in year 2001, a
new policy document was launched. The new policy document bears most of
the features of the old one, but with more focused direction and better
articulation.
Objectives of New Agricultural Policy

In a broad sense, the objectives of the new agricultural policy (as stated in
the document) are very similar to those of the old one. They include:
(i) The achievement of self-sufficiency in basic food supply and the
attainment of food security;
(2) Increased production of agricultural raw materials for industries;
(3) Increased production and processing of export crops, using improved
production and processing technologies;
(4) Generating gainful employment;
(5) Rational utilization of agricultural resources, improved protection of
agricultural land resources from drought, desert encroachment, soil erosion

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and flood, and the general preservation of the environment for the
sustainability of agricultural production;
(6) Promotion of the increased application of modern technology to
agricultural production; and,
(7) Improvement in the quality of life of rural dwellers.

Key Features of the New Policy

The key features of the new policy are as follows:

 Evolution of strategies that will ensure self-sufficiency and

improvement in the level of technical and economic efficiency in food
production. This is to be achieved through (i) the introduction and
adoption of improved seeds and seed stock, (ii) adoption of improved
husbandry and appropriate machinery and equipment, (iii) efficient
utilization of resources, (iv) encouragement of ecological
specialization, and (v) recognition of the roles and potentials of small
-scale farmers as the major producers of food in the country.

 Reduction of risks and uncertainties in agriculture, to be achieved

through the introduction of a more comprehensive agricultural
insurance scheme to reduce the natural hazard factor militating against
agricultural production and security of investment.

 A nationwide, unified and all-inclusive extension delivery system

under the Agricultural Development Programs (ADPs).

 Active promotion of agro-allied industry to strengthen the linkage

effect of agriculture on the economy.

 Provision of such facilities and incentives as rural infrastructure, rural

banking, primary health care, cottage industries etc, to encourage
agricultural and rural development and attract youths (including
school leavers) to go back to the land.

Major Content of the Policy Framework

The policies cover issues on:

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(i) agricultural resources (land, labor, capital, seeds, fertilizer, etc) whose
supply and prices affect the profitability of agricultural business,
(ii) crops, livestock, fisheries and agro-forestry production,
(iii) pest control,
(iv) mechanization,
(v) water resources and irrigation,
(vi) rural infrastructure,
(vii) agricultural extension and technology transfer,
(viii) research and development (R&D),
(ix) agricultural commodity storage, processing and marketing,
(x) credit supply,
(xi) insurance,
(xii) agricultural cooperatives,
(xiii) training and manpower development, and
(xiv) agricultural statistics and information management.
The successful implementation of the agricultural policy is, however,
contingent upon the existence of appropriate macroeconomic policies that
provide the enabling environment for agriculture to grow in equilibrium with
other sectors. They affect profitability of agricultural enterprises and the
welfare of farmers through their effects on the flow of credit and investment
funds, taxes, tariffs, subsidies, budgetary allocation, etc.
The New Policy Direction

According to the document, the new agricultural policy will herald in a new
policy direction via new policy strategies that will lay the foundation for
sustained improvement in agricultural productivity and output. The new
strategies involve:
(1) Creating a more conducive macro-environment to stimulate greater
private sector investment in agriculture;

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(2) Rationalizing the roles of the tiers of government and the private sector
in their promotional and supportive efforts to stimulate agricultural growth;
(3) Reorganizing the institutional framework for government intervention in
the agricultural sector to facilitate the smooth and integrated development of
the sector;
(4) Articulating and implementing integrated rural development programs to
raise the quality of life of the rural people;
(5 Increasing budgetary allocation and other fiscal incentives to agriculture
and promoting the necessary developmental, supportive and service-oriented
activities to enhance agricultural productivity, production and market
opportunities; and
(6). Rectifying import tariff anomalies in respect of agricultural products
and promoting the increased use of agricultural machinery and inputs
through favourable tariff policy.

Roles and Responsibilities of Stakeholders

The new agricultural policy has spelt out definitive roles and responsibilities
for the federal, state and local governments as well as the private sector in
order to remove role duplication and overlapping functions among them.
The revised roles and responsibilities are outlined as follows:

The Federal Government

Under the new policy regime, the Federal Government shall be responsible
for:

(i)the provision of a general policy framework, including macroeconomic

policies for agricultural and rural development and for the guidance of all
stakeholders;
(ii) maintenance of a reasonable flow of resources into agriculture and the
rural economy;
(iii) support for rural infrastructure development in collaboration with state
and local governments;

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 (iv) research and development of appropriate technology for agriculture,
including biotechnology;
(v) seed industry development, seed law enforcement and seed quality
control;
(vi) support for input supply and distribution, including seeds, seedlings,
brood stock and fingerlings;
(vii) continued support for agricultural extension services;
(viii)management of impounded water, supervision of large dams and
irrigation canals and maintenance of pumping facilities;
(ix) control of pests and diseases of national and international significance
and the promotion of integrated disease and pest management;
(x) establishment and maintenance of virile national and international animal
and plant quarantine services;
(xi) maintenance of favourable tariff regime for agricultural commodities;
(xii) promotion of the export of agricultural commodities through, among
others, the Export Processing Zones (EPZs); (xiii) establishment of an
agricultural insurance scheme; (xiv) maintenance of a Strategic National
Grain Reserve for national food security;
(xv) coordination of agricultural data and information management systems;
(xvi) inventorization of land resources and control of land use and land
degradation;
(xvii) training and manpower development;
(xviii) participation in the mapping and development of interstate cattle and
grazing routes and watering points; (xix) promotion of micro-and rural credit
institutions;
(xx) promotion of agricultural commodity development and marketing
institutions;
(xxi) maintenance of fishing terminals and other fisheries infrastructure,
including cold rooms;
(xxii) promotion of trawling, artisanal and aquaculture fisheries;
(xxiii) promotion of fish feed production;
(xxiv) protection of Nigeria's Exclusive Economic Zone for fisheries
resources; and
(xxv) periodic review of agreements on international agricultural trade.
The State Governments:
The state governments will be primarily responsible for:
(i) the promotion of the primary production of all agricultural commodities
through the provision of a virile and effective extension service;

195
(ii) promotion of the production of inputs for crops, livestock, fish and
forestry;
(iii) ensuring access to land for all those wishing to engage in farming;
(iv) development and management of irrigation facilities and dams;
(v) grazing reserve development and creation of water access for livestock;
(vi) training and manpower development;
(vii) control of plant and animal pests and diseases;
(viii) promotion of appropriate institutions for administering credit to
smallholder farmers;
(ix) maintenance of buffer stocks of agricultural commodities;
(x) investment in rural infrastructure, including rural roads and water supply
in collaboration with federal and local governments; and,
(xi) ownership, management and control of forest estates held in trust for
local communities.
Local Governments:
The local governments will be expected to take over progressively the
responsibilities of state governments with respect to:
(i) the provision of effective extension service;
(ii) provision of rural infrastructure to complement federal and state
governments' efforts;
(iii) management of irrigation areas of dams;
(iv) mobilization of farmers for accelerated agricultural and rural
development through cooperative organizations, local institutions and
communities;
(v) provision of land for new entrants into farming in accordance with the
provision of the Land Use Act; and,
(vi) coordination of data collection at primary levels.

The Private Sector

According to the policy document, since agricultural production, processing,
storage and marketing are essentially private sector activities; the role of the
private sector will be to take advantage of the improved enabling
environment provided by the public sector for profitable agricultural

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investment. In particular, the public sector is expected to play a leading role
with respect to:
(i) investment in all aspects of upstream and downstream agricultural
enterprises and agribusinesses, including agricultural commodity storage,
processing and marketing;
(ii) agricultural input supply and distribution;
(iii) the production of commercial seeds, seedlings, brood stock and
fingerlings under government certification and quality control;
(iv) agricultural mechanization;
(v) provision of enterprise-specific rural infrastructure; and, (vi) support for
research in all aspects of agriculture.

Key Agricultural Development, Supportive and Service Delivery

Programs of the Federal Government

Following the redefined roles and responsibilities of tiers of government and

the private sector, the main thrust of federal government programs and
activities will be directed at obviating the technical and structural problems
of agriculture in the following respects.
Development Programs and Activities

These will include research and development, (including biotechnology

development), animal vaccine production, veterinary drug manufacture, agro
-chemicals manufacture, water management, adaptive technology
promotion, and the creation and operation of an Agricultural Development
Fund.

(a) Research and development, including biotechnology: The effort in this direction
is
to finance agricultural research, including biotechnology and the breeding
of predators for the biological control of crop pests which the private
sector may not be willing to invest in due to the high capital outlay and a
relatively low return from agricultural investments. The output of the
research system will be disseminated by the extension services of the states
and local governments to farmers, ranging from small-scale to large-scale
farmers.

(b) Animal vaccine production: The capacity of the National Veterinary

Research Institute (NVRI), which is
the premier institution for animal vaccine production in the West Africa

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sub-region, will be strengthened, enlarged and modernized in order to
raise the level of vaccine production in Nigeria to a self-sufficiency level
and also to cater for the
entire West Africa sub-region.

(c) Veterinary drug manufacture: A veterinary drug manufacturing outfit

with the capacity to meet the needs of the West Africa sub-region will
be established. Relevant agencies of government will collaborate with
the private sector for the accelerated take off of the factory.
Government interests in this venture will, however, be sold to the
private sector in line with the privatization policy.

(d) Agro -chemicals manufacture: Government will manufacture and

promote the production of agro-chemicals by the private sector and
will ensure the protection of the users, the eco-system and the
environment through appropriate pesticide legislation. Effective
monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance with the law will be put
in place.

(e) Water management: Currently, large dams constructed in the country

have impounded a lot of water with high fisheries and duck farming
potentials and having the capacity for irrigation. The completion of the
outstanding downstream irrigation infrastructure of the already completed
large dams in the country will be accorded top priority in order to
make them useful to the farmers and to maximize the benefits of the
huge investments already incurred in constructing them.
Emphasis will now shift to developing small dams as a more cost effective
way of utilizing water resources for irrigation in the country. The
maintenance of the existing large dams will, however, continue to be the
responsibility of the Federal Government. In addition, rain harvesting for
irrigation agriculture is to be promoted where surface and underground
water is not readily available.

(f) Adaptive technology: Economic deregulation has increased agricultural

production costs astronomically. At the same time, globalization of
trade, which thrives on comparative advantage in production, makes
efficiency of production and the application of economies of scale
mandatory if Nigeria is to get a sizeable market share in the highly
competitive global trade arena. In order to improve efficiency of

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 production, therefore, simple labor -and cost-saving devices that are
appropriate for the current level of agricultural production and
processing in the country will be developed and mass-produced. The
National Centre for
Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), the institution established for
this purpose, will be strengthened. Other initiatives in this direction,
such as animal traction and hand tools technology development, will
be encouraged.

(g) Agricultural Development Fund: The National Agricultural Development

Fund is to provide the necessary impetus for the sustainable
development of the agricultural sector. It will support both public and
private sectors in carrying out activities that will boost agricultural and
rural development, with emphasis on all facets of agricultural
research, market development, extension delivery, long-term credit,
rural institutions development, and enterprise promotion. The Fund
will derive its revenues from:
(i) savings from subsidy withdrawals on fertilizer,
(ii) 5 percent of the proceeds from the privatization of government
enterprises,
(iii) funds from international commodity organizations, (iv) 2 percent
levy on the profits of agro-based industries, (v) 50 percent of Sugar
Development Levy, (vi) 1.0 percent levy on the profits of oil
companies, (vii) appropriation from government annual budget of not
less than 2 percent of the total budget, and
(viii) take-off grant from the federal government.

Supportive Activities

These will comprise input incentive support and commodity marketing and
export activities.

a) Input incentive support: Government incentive support for inputs will be

administered in a cost-effective and focused manner to ensure that the
intended beneficiaries derive full benefit from the distribution of:

(i) seeds, seedlings, fingerlings, brood stock etc,

(ii) fertilizers,
(iii) agro-chemicals,
(iv) tractors and implements,

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(v) vaccines
(vi) veterinary drugs, and
(vii) agricultural credit. State and local governments are also to be
encouraged to subsidize these inputs, as an additional incentive for
agriculture.

b) Commodity marketing and export: The development of an efficient

agricultural marketing system is being promoted through the provision of
adequate market information. The buyer of last resort mechanism built into
the marketing system will provide price stabilization effect on the system.
The three multi-commodity marketing companies already approved by
government will be the fulcrum of this system. The companies which will be
private sector-led and managed, but with initial substantial public sector
participation, will also ensure quality management and export promotion, in
conformity with international quality standards for Nigeria’s agricultural
commodities.

Service Delivery Activities

These activities will cover input supply and distribution, agricultural

extension, micro-credit delivery, cooperatives and farmer/commodity
associations, commodity processing and storage, agro-allied industry and
rural enterprise development, and export promotion of agricultural and agro-
industrial products.

(a) Input supply and distribution: Government is creating the more

conducive environment for profitable investments in the production
and distribution of inputs such as improved starter materials, animal
health drugs, fertilizers, etc. Fertilizer supply will be hinged on
complete privatization and liberalization in the production, distribution
and marketing of the commodity. The main role of the government
will be to strictly monitor the quality standard of all fertilizers (both
local and foreign) to ensure that only certified products reach the
farmer. Government will also encourage the use of organic fertilizers
to complement the inorganic fertilizers currently in use. The seed
industry development program will be reinvigorated and community
seed development programs will be promoted to ensure the provision
of adequate and good quality seeds to local farmers. The organized

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 private sector will be mobilized, encouraged and given incentives to
actively participate in the production of seeds, seedlings, brood stock,
fingerlings, etc, and also to be involved in out-growers mobilization.
(b) Agricultural extension : Agricultural extension is essentially an activity
that should be carried out by the lower tiers of government. But given
the overriding importance of technology dissemination, all the three
tiers of government in Nigeria will be involved in jointly financing
agricultural extension delivery and monitoring its impact. Also,
extension service delivery will be streamlined through the integration
of ADP and state extension services for greater effectiveness.

(c) Credit and micro-credit delivery: The strategies to be adopted will

include:

(i) provision and improvement of rural infrastructure to attract

investment and financial services;
(ii) integration and linkage of rural financial institutions to the formal
banking sector;
(iii) regulating and supervising the growth of non-bank financial
institutions with emphasis on savings mobilization at the grassroots;
(iv) expanding the mandate of the restructured Nigerian Agricultural
Cooperative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB) to include
savings mobilization;
(v) supporting self-help groups in their savings mobilization and credit
delivery activities;
(vi) modification of the credit delivery system to include the
cooperative and community-based organizations as delivery channels
to reduce transaction costs; and,
(vii) modification of terms of credit such as interest rate, eligibility
criteria, legal requirement, etc, to enhance access.
(d) Cooperatives and farmer/commodity associations: Resource
mobilization and the promotion of group action are the thrust of
cooperative activities. This is to take advantage of group dynamics,
with its concomitant mutual guarantee, as a strategy for agricultural
development. Services which cooperatives can render include the
administration of government incentives to agriculture, such as inputs
supply, credit delivery and retrieval, commodity marketing, and the
pursuit of democratic ideals, in view of the democratic principles
embedded in their operations.

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(e) Processing, storage, agro-allied industry and rural enterprise
development: The use of simple but effective on-farm and off-farm
storage facilities and agro-processing technology will be promoted to
add value to products and increase their shelf life. The Strategic Grain
Reserve Scheme will be modernized, strengthened and upgraded to a
National Food Reserve Program, which will enable it to handle all
staples and essential food products. This will be the launch pad for the
accelerated attainment of Nigeria’s national food security goal. The
Buffer Sock Food Storage Scheme of the states will incorporate the
use of private storage facilities to maintain a national strategic stock of
food that will be needed in times of national food emergencies. It is
also crucial to promote and develop agro-processing in the country for
the evolution of virile agro-allied industries and rural micro-
enterprises.

(f) Export promotion of agricultural and agro-industrial products: Nigeria

has comparative advantage in the production of a number of
exportable agricultural commodities, such as cocoa, palm produce,
rubber, ginger, spices, fruits and vegetables, flowers, shrimps and
ornamental fish, cassava products, hides and skin, cashew, gum arabic,
groundnuts and cotton (products). In order to diversity the base of the
Nigerian economy and widen the market for agricultural commodities
to absorb the expected increase in production, there is need to promote
the export of these agricultural and agro-industrial products. To
facilitate the acceptance of Nigerian agricultural commodities in the
international market, including taking full advantage of the US
African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), there will be need to
develop appropriate capacities and institutional framework within the
agricultural sector as well as in other relevant sectors to meet the
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS) and comply with the
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) agreements of the World Trade
Organization (WTO).
Other Policies, Institutions and Legal Framework

The range of macroeconomic and institutional policies as well as legal

framework that affect agricultural investment in particular and agricultural
performance in general is wide. The policies broadly cover fiscal, monetary
and trade measures. There is also a large body of institutional policies that

202
support not only the implementation of macroeconomic policies but also that
of agricultural sector policies. Then, there is a set of national and
international legal framework, including bilateral and multilateral
agreements and treaties that provide the enabling environment for foreign
and domestic private investment, promote international trade and, therefore,
promote economic growth.
Environmental concern has increasingly come into focus in the design of
policies for sustainable growth and development in Nigeria, as elsewhere in
the world. Hence, Nigeria has now put together a set of environmental
policies and strategies that are of important relevance to agriculture.

Macroeconomic Policies

The key components of macroeconomic policies are fiscal, monetary and

trade policies.
Fiscal Policies: These focus on budgetary, tax and debt management policy
instruments. Budgetary policy influences economic stability and rate of
inflation in the economy. These, in turn, influence the climate for the flow of
investment, especially foreign private investment. Tax policies that focus on
personal and corporate tax rates, tax reliefs, and other tax concessions are
key incentives (or disincentives) factors affecting consumption and
investment decisions. A favourable corporate tax policy regime enhances
after-tax profits and, to that extent, may promote increased investment. A
country's external debt burden affects its international credit rating and its
capacity to finance public investment. International credit rating affects the
flow of foreign private investment while the level and quality of public
investment directly affect the flow of both foreign and domestic private
investment.

Monetary Policies: In general, monetary policies refer to the combination of

measures designed to regulate the value, supply and cost of money in the
economy, in consonance with the expected level of economic activity.
Liquidity, interest rates and foreign exchange rates are the channels through
which monetary policy influences economic activities. Liquidity is affected
by money supply. Money supply influences credit supply and interest rate
(cost of capital). Interest rate, in turn, influences consumption, savings and
investment decisions in the economy. Basically, the existence of interest and
exchange rate differentials, resulting from monetary policy measures,

203
induces substitution between domestic and foreign assets (foreign
currencies, bonds, securities real estate, etc) as well as domestic and foreign
goods and services (CBN, 1997). Since 1986, the main instruments of
market-based monetary policies have included the open market operations
(OMO), changes in reserve requirements and discount policy. Open market
operations involve the discretionary power of the CBN to purchase or sell
securities in the financial markets in order to influence the volume of
liquidity and levels of interest rates that ultimately affect money supply.

The sale of financial instruments by the CBN restricts the capacity of banks
to extend credit, thereby affecting inflation and interest rates. The reverse is
the case when financial instruments are purchased.

Trade Policies: These are a very important component of structural

adjustment policies. The main focus of trade policies is on measures to
regulate export and import trade through such measures as tariffs, export and
import quotas and prohibitions. They influence the investment climate in
many ways. For example, a liberal trade policy constitutes an incentive for
foreign investors who may need to import raw materials and / or export
products. But a protectionist trade policy may also serve as an incentive for
investors in non-tradable products that are largely locally consumed, or
investors in import -substitute products.
Institutions

According to the World Development Report (2002), institutions are rules,

enforcement mechanisms and organizations put in place in an economy.
Distinct from policies that are the goals and the desired results, institutions
are rules, including behavioural norms, by which agents interact, and the
organizations that implement these rules and codes of conduct to achieve
desired outcomes. Policies influence the types of institutions that evolve
while institutions too affect the types of policies that are adopted. Appendix
4.1 presents some of the major institutions that affect or are affected by
investment -related policies in Nigeria.
1
Investment Legal Framework

Investment legal framework provides incentives for, regulates or protects

investments, especially foreign investment. According to Aremu (1997), a
foreign investor is first concerned with some basic questions like: What

204
areas of business are open to foreign participation? How easy is it to bring
capital into the country and repatriate profits and capital from the country?
What legal mechanisms exist to protect the investor's personal business
interest? These questions underscore the importance of investment legal
framework. Some of the important domestic investment legislations and
international legal arrangements governing foreign private investment are as
contained in the NIPC Act 16 of 1997

Environmental Policies

Environmental policies are very important for sustainable growth and

development. Hence, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA)
produced a revised version of the national policy on the environment in
1999.
The goals of National Policy on the Environmental is to achieve sustainable
development in Nigeria, and, in particular, to (i) secure a quality of
environment adequate for good health and well being; (ii) conserve and use
the environment and natural resources for the benefit of present and future
generations; (iii) restore, maintain and enhance the ecosystems and
ecological processes essential for the functioning of the biosphere to
preserve biological diversity and the principle of optimum sustainable yield
in the use of living natural resources and ecosystems; (iv) raise public
awareness and promote understanding of the essential linkages between the
environment, resources and development, and encourage individual and
community participation in environmental improvement efforts; and (v) co-
operate in good faith with other countries, international organizations and
agencies to achieve optimal use of transboundary natural resources and for
an effective prevention or abatement of transboundary environmental
degradation.
The strategies to be adopted include:
(i) addressing the issues of population growth and resources consumption in
an integrated way;
(iii) setting goals for the stabilization of national population at a sustainable
level;
(iii) integrating resource consumption and demographic goals with the other
sectors and economic objectives;
(iv) monitoring trends in population and resource consumption and assessing
their implications for sustainability;

205
(v) encouraging and involving the private sectors, NGOs and the public in
the implementation of strategies and actions aimed at achieving stated goals;

(vi) the prevention and management of natural disasters such as flood,

drought and desertification that more directly impact on the lives of the
populace;
(vii) integration of population and environmental factors in national
development planning;
(vii) solving public health problems associated with rapid urbanization and
squalid urban environments;
(ix) prevention of the depletion of forests through judicious search for and
adoption of alternative energy sources; and (x) control of the demands and
patterns of land resources usage.

An extract of the environmental policy presented in the appendix covers

policies, objectives of policies and policy strategies on human population,
biological diversity, natural resources conservation, land use and soil
conservation, water resources, forestry, wildlife and protected natural areas,
energy, environmental health, transportation, communication, and science
and technology. These are the policy instruments that are considered most
relevant to agricultural investment in Nigeria.

Stakeholders’ Perspective on the Effectiveness of Policies,

Regulations and Institutions on Nigerian’s Agriculture

Opinions on the effectiveness of policies and regulations in the

different areas of agriculture were sought from both policy makers and
policy implementers. In general, policies aimed at stimulating on-farm
production rank highest. These include those policies aimed at stimulating
agricultural production for domestic market, agricultural input demand by
farmers, domestic agricultural commodity trade, agricultural input supply to
farmers and domestic investment in agriculture. It is evident from the
ranking that the more effective policies and regulations are those targeted to
upstream agricultural production activities and geared towards the domestic
market. Policies geared towards enhanced post-production activities such as
commodity storage, commodity processing, transportation and distribution
services as well as commercialization of agriculture are generally ranked
low. Except for policies and regulations on food security and poverty

206
reduction (which are indeed offshoot of domestic agricultural production),
other policies and regulations associated with improved human welfare
ranked very low. But overall, policies on foreign investment ranked lowest.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that current policies are more effective in
the primary production subsector of agriculture than in the downstream
subsector. Impact of policies on the welfare status of the people and on the
environment remains weak. In general, the thrust of the effective policies is
on food self-sufficiency as most of these policies have bearing on boosting
agricultural production for food self-sufficiency.

The main factors influencing the effectiveness of policies and regulations on

agriculture include high demand for agricultural produce, availability of
improved technology, efficient dissemination of information by the ADPs,
and value added leading to improved income. On the other hand, the
common factors responsible for ineffectiveness of
policies and regulations, especially on the downstream segment of
agriculture, include instability of the political climate, insecurity of
investment, non-standardized product quality, non-competitive nature of
agricultural products from the country in the export market due to high cost
of production and lack of adequate processing facilities.

Revision Questions
1. Mention five objectives of the new Nigerian agricultural polices
2. Who are the stakeholders and what roles are specified for them in the new
policy?
3what are the contents of the new policy
4. Explain the new policy direction
5. In what way is it different from the former agricultural policy?

207
THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
AGRICULTURE IN NIGERIA.

UMORU, J.I.A.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION,
FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECH) AKOKA

Introduction.

As a result of the importance of agriculture for human survival,

the government of nations of ten play an important role either
directly or indirectly so as to ensure adequate food production.
Such role of the government in the development of agriculture
includes:

a) Setting up of agricultural policies.

b) Provision of Agricultural education.
c) Provision of loan and credit facilities
d) Provision of farm inputs and machineries
e) Provision of quarantine service
f) Direct establishment of farms.

a) Setting Up Of Agricultural Policies.

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 Every government has agricultural policies that regulates
the practice of agriculture in the nation. Agricultural
policies therefore vary from one nation to another but the
most important thing is that such policies are normally
directed towards increased food production.

For instance, the regime of former president Olusegun

Obasanjo in 2004 set up agricultural policies banning
importation and exportation of certain food products like
the ban on the importation of Vice, wheat and frozen
chickens. The goal of the policy is to favour the
development of local industries and so encourage
employment opportunities. There is also the policy
governing the interest rate on agricultural loans.

b) Provision of Agricultural Education.

The Government endeavour to educate 10 citizens in the
field of agriculture since education enhances economic
growth and development. For instance, the government
encourage the teaching of agricultural science in primary,
secondary, tertiary and higher institutions of learning. It
equally award scholarships to students to study agriculture
at the undergraduate and post graduate levels. There is
also the establishment of schools of agriculture for the
purpose of educating people on agricultural productivity.

The Nigerian government has established research agencies

or centres like the National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI),

209
 The Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), the Nigerian
Institute for Oil Palm Research, (NIFOR), and the Rubber
Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN) e.t.c. These research
agencies carry out various researches in different aspect of
agriculture and relay such research findings through
agricultural extension workers.

c) Provision of Loans and Credit Facilities to

Farmers.
Since most agricultural enterprises are capital intensive, the
government sometimes provide loans and credit facilities to
farmers so that they can gainfully undertake their
agricultural production activities. Such loans and credit
facilities are sometimes given to the farmers with out
interest or with very little interest. Government agencies
responsible for the provision of such loans and credit
facilities include Agricultural Bank.

d) Agricultural Credit Co-operatives as well as the Credit and

Loans Divisions of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Provision Of Farm Inputs And Machineries.
The government sometimes assist farmers by providing
them with important farm inputs such as improved seeds
and planting materials, improved animal breeds, fertilizers,
pesticides, insecticides, machines, farm implements and

210
 machineries such as tractors, ploughing/ harrowing
machines.

In the case of farm machineries, because of the high

maintenance cost, farmers are allowed to hire them for their
farm work at very cheap prices while the money realized
are used for the maintenance of the machineries.

e) Provision of Quarantine Services

Quarantine Service are regulatory service by the
government to ensure that pests and diseases are neither
introduced into the country from other countries nor moved
out of the country to other countries. Quarantine service
therefore ensure proper monitoring of agricultural product
that are either imported into the country or exported out of
the country. Before products are therefore exported or
imported into the country, they have to be inspected by the
quarantine service department for the presence or absence
of inert matters, pests and diseases. After such inspection,
agricultural products that meet up with the already
established quarantine standards are certified okay for
either importation or exportation. It is only the certified or
approved products that will be allowed into or outside the
country.

f) Establishment of Government Farms.

The government sometimes establishes farms so as to
increase food production. Such farms are set up by the

211
 Agricultural Development Project (ADP) of the each state
which is an arm of the Ministry of Agriculture. Money is also
raised for the government through these farms.

Other roles played by the government includes provision of

storage and processing facilities and that of extension
services provision. In order to prevent food wastage and
provide food in period of scarcity, the government decides
to provide storage and processing facilities through the
construction of Silos in all parts of the Country. Also,
Government have helped to employ qualified and
experienced extension offices to take new ideas and
innovations to the rural farmers.

Revision Questions
1) List Five (5) Intervention roles of government in the
development of agriculture in Nigeria.
2) Discuss Four (4) important roles of any government in
the development of agriculture in the country.

Suggested Further Reading

Adesope, O.M. (1999). Role of government in Rural and
Agricultural
Development. In Introduction to Agriculture for Sustainable
Development. The Nigeria an Association of Agricultural
Education (NAAGROD), Lagos.

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Adeyeye, V.A. (1991). Group taking in Oyo State, Nigeia. A
Comparison of
Male and Female Participants. NISER Monograph Series No.
5. Ibadan, NISER.

THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURAL

DEVELOPMENT.
BY
SANYAOLU, A.A.ADENIYI.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE (ENVIRONMENTAL
BIOLOGY PROGRAMME), YABA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY,
P.M.B 2011 YABA, LAGOS- NIGERIA.
AND
SANYAOLU, V.T.
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY, SCHOOL
OF TECHNOLOGY, LAGOS STATE POYTECHNIC, IKORODU-
LAGOS.

Highlights:

INTRODUCTION.

FOOD SECURITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE.

Climate change and Agriculture, the skeptics’ view point.

Climate change: the hunger and malnutrition connection.

Climate change and the emergence of new patterns of pests and
diseases.
Climate change and the threat to Fishing and aquaculture.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF AGRICULTURE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.

Greenhouse gases from agriculture.

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AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE CHANGE: SOME MITIGATIVE
MEASURES.
The Role of Stakeholders in mitigating emissions.
Sustainable livestock management and the reduction of Green House
Gas Emissions.
Strategies for adapting to the effect of climate change on agriculture.

INTRODUCTION.
The effect of Major Environmental problems such as ozone layer
depletion, Global warming, Land degradation, Erosion of Biodiversity,
deforestation, desertification, Acid rain and Environmental Pollution
cannot be over emphasized. Each of these problems is intricately
connected to the other, thus creating a major upheaval in the global
climatic conditions.
One major cause of climate change is the problem of Global Warming
or Green house effect (this is the increase in the average temperature
of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century
and its projected continuation) and this caused as a result of the
continued build- up of green house gases in the atmosphere. These
gases which include Carbon-dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides and
Chloroflourocarbons (CFCs) - some of which are naturally occurring in
the course of natural events such as volcanic eruptions, forest fires,
and decaying vegetation and animals. When naturally occurring, these
gases do not normally cause a disequilibrium in the biosphere. Climate
change therefore can be referred to as any long-term change in the
statistics of weather over periods of time that range from decades to
millions of years. Climate change may occur in a specific region, or
across the whole Earth. In recent usage, especially in the context of
environmental policy, climate change usually refers to changes in
modern climate. The build-up of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere is known to be changing air and sea surface
temperatures, rainfall and wind patterns, ocean acidity, sea levels and
the intensity of tropical cyclones. Research has found that climate

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change is already modifying the distribution and productivity of marine
and freshwater species, affecting biological processes, and altering
food webs.
The sun is the Earth’s primary energy source. Its rays enter our
atmosphere and shower upon on our planet. About one third of this
solar energy is reflected back into the universe by shimmering
glaciers, water and other bright surfaces. Two thirds, however, are
absorbed by the Earth, warming land, oceans, and atmosphere.

Much of this heat radiates back out into space as albedo, but some of it
is stored in the atmosphere. This process is called the greenhouse
effect. Without it, the Earth’s average temperature would be a chilling
-18 degrees Celsius, even despite the sun’s constant energy supply.
However, heat emitted from the Earth is trapped in the atmosphere,
providing us with a comfortable average temperature of 14 degrees.
Sunrays enter the glass roof and walls of a greenhouse. But once they
heat up the ground, which, in turn, heats up the air inside the
greenhouse, the glass panels trap that warm air and temperatures
increase. But our planet has no glass walls; the only thing that comes
close to acting as such is our atmosphere. But unfortunately, in here,
processes are way more complicated. Only about half of all solar
energy that reaches the Earth is infrared radiation and causes
immediate warming when passing the atmosphere. The other half is of
a higher frequency, and only translates into heat once it hits Earth and
is later reflected back into space as waves of infrared radiation.
This transformation of solar radiation into infrared radiation is crucial,
because infrared radiation can be absorbed by the atmosphere.
Nitrogen, oxygen, and argon make up 98 percent of the Earth’s
atmosphere. But they do not absorb significant amounts of infrared
radiation, and thus do not contribute to the greenhouse effect. It is the
more exotic components like water vapour, carbon dioxide, ozone,
methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons that absorb heat and
thus increase atmospheric temperatures. But while we are still far from
seeing major concentrations of CO2 in our atmosphere, slight changes
already alter the way the planet’s heating system works.
Measurements of carbon dioxide amounts from Mauna Loa
Observatory in Hawaii show that CO2 has increased from about 313
ppm in 1960 to about 375 ppm in 2005. That means for every million
particles in our atmosphere, there are now 62 CO2-particles more than
in 1960. Even if this does not seem like much, scientists say this
increase – most probably caused by human activities – is mainly
responsible for rising global temperatures throughout the last decades.

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Figure 1: Illustration Of the Green House Effect.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that

increasing greenhouse gas concentrations resulting from human
activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation caused most of
the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th
century. The IPCC also concludes that variations in natural phenomena
such as solar radiation and volcanoes are also responsible in part for
the observed elevation in temperature. An increase in global
temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount
and distribution of rainfall, will result in deserts encroaching existing
land mass, and the continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea
ice is expected, especially in the Arctic. Other likely effects include
increases in the intensity of extreme weather events, species
extinctions, and changes in agricultural yields.

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FOOD SECURITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE.

Climate change is full of risks and opportunities for farmers. Scientific

evidence leaves little room for doubt that our climate is changing, and
that agriculture will be affected. Climate change is the major,
overriding environmental issue of our time, and the single greatest
challenge facing environmental regulators. It is a growing crisis with
economic, health and safety, food production, security, and other
dimensions. Shifting weather patterns, for example, threaten food
production through the following amongst others:

• increased unpredictability of precipitation.

• rising sea levels contaminate coastal freshwater reserves
and increase the risk of catastrophic.
• a warming atmosphere aids the pole-ward spread of pests
and diseases once limited to the tropics.

By mid-century many semi-arid areas, for example the Mediterranean

basin, Southern Africa and northeast Brazil, will suffer a decrease in
water resources due to climate change.

Climate change and Agriculture, the skeptics’ view point.

On the other extreme, some people (especially in the developing

nations) have often maintained that climate change is not important to
farmers so it will be difficult to interest or engage Farmers who they
believe are small contributors to climate change so they should not be
singled out. They argue that short-term business survival is more
important and farmers don’t have the luxury of spending a lot of time
on a long-term global issue like climate change. They posit that
Climate change education would be nice but it is not a priority. In
substantiating their position, they opine that Educators need to
develop their own knowledge about climate change issues before they
will be comfortable offering or preparing programs for their clients. In
this school of thought, there is this fear of blaming agriculture
disproportionately for its contribution to global warming; why is action
needed if farming is a relatively small contributor? They therefore
conclude that a lot more specific data needs to be gathered to answer

217
questions that producers and leadership will have on the extent to
which certain practices affect greenhouse gases and global warming.
All the above notwithstanding, it may be safe to conclude that climate
change is likely to have a significant impact on farming whether people
accept that or not at present. It is important to improve our
understanding of the issue even if we are not completely sure of the
agricultural implications or recommendations.

Climate change: the hunger and malnutrition connection.

Climate change will worsen the living conditions of farmers, fishers and
forest-dependent people who are already vulnerable and food
insecure. Hunger and malnutrition will increase. Rural communities,
particularly those living in already fragile environments, face an
immediate and ever-growing risk of increased crop failure, loss of
livestock, and reduced availability of marine, aquaculture and forest
products. More frequent and more intense extreme weather events will
have adverse impacts on food availability, accessibility, stability and
utilization, as well as on livelihood assets and opportunities in both
rural and urban areas. Poor people will be at risk of food insecurity due
to loss of assets and lack of adequate insurance coverage. Rural
people’s ability to cope with climate change impacts depends on the
existing cultural and policy context, as well as on socio-economic
factors like gender, household composition, age, and the distribution of
household assets. In a recent study, Parry et al (2004) reported that
although climate change may not affect the global food production
significantly, it will nevertheless affect it significantly at the regional
level, especially to the detriment of the developing nations of the world
in the southern hemisphere.

Climate change and the emergence of new patterns of pests

and diseases.
Humans, plants, livestock and fish will be exposed to new pests and
diseases that flourish only at specific temperatures and humidity. This
will pose new risks for food security, food safety and human health.

Climate change and the threat to Fishing and aquaculture.

Climate change is having an impact on oceans, seas, lakes and rivers
and on the animals and plants that are found and/or cultured in them.
Climate change will affect the approximately 200 million people and
their families worldwide whose livelihoods depend on fishing and
aquaculture. Some fish resources will become less abundant while
important species may move to other areas where they are less
available to the fishers. Aquaculture practices may be threatened,
among other factors, by increased extreme weather events, droughts,
and the warming of waters. This will make it harder for many fishing

218
communities to continue to make a living from fish or to provide fish
for feeding their families. Coastal communities may also be displaced
by rising sea levels and will be forced to find new places to live and
new ways to earn a living.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF AGRICULTURE TO CLIMATE

CHANGE:NIGERIA IN PERSPECTIVE
Between 1990 and 2005, emissions by agriculture in developing
countries increased by around 30 percent and are expected to rise
further. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the forest and
agriculture sectors contribute over 30 percent of the current annual
total emissions in the Nigerian case (deforestation and forest
degradation 17.4 percent, agriculture 13.5 percent). Agriculture,
however, can also contribute to reducing GHG emissions and their
impacts through managing ecosystem services, reduction of land use
change and related deforestation, more efficient crop varieties, better
control of wildfires, improved nutrition for ruminant livestock, more
efficient management of livestock waste, organic soil management,
conservation
agriculture and agroforestry systems. As well as reducing GHG
emissions, well managed crop and pasture land can sequester
significant amounts of carbon. Forty percent of the land biomass, and
thus the biological carbon, are directly or indirectly managed by
farmers, foresters or herders. It is in their interests to adopt
management systems that combine mitigation and adaptation, thereby
improving both local and global food security.

Major CO2 Emission Sources

Electricity
LULUCF Gen. Gas Flaring
39% 3% 30%

Industrial Transport
Processes 20%
1% Other Energy
7%
Figure 2: Carbon emission scenarios in Nigeria. Source: PICCDM, 2008.
LULUCF (Land Use and Land Use Conversion Forestry).

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Globally, agriculture is responsible for 20% of the greenhouse gas
emissions. In the United
States, the national average from agriculture is 8%, a figure much
lesser than Nigeria’s 39%.

Greenhouse gases from agriculture.

Agricultural emissions come from other greenhouse gases, namely
methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) in addition to CO2. While CH4
and N2O emissions are far less in quantity in the atmosphere, they
have a much more potent impact on the climate.
In an effort to make greenhouse gas accounting simpler, the different
gases were given
weighted values according to their potency as a greenhouse gas. This
potency of a gas is
referred to as a Global Warming Potential (GWP) and their common
unit is referred to as a
carbon dioxide equivalent or CO2e. As seen below, two common
agricultural gases, methane and nitrous oxide are 23 and 310 times
more potent than carbon dioxide.
Different gases have different Global Warming Potential (GWP):
The potency of a greenhouse gas is referred to as its global warming
potential.
The common unit is referred to as a carbon dioxide equivalent or
CO2e.
carbon dioxide (CO2) = 1 CO2e
methane (CH4) = 23 CO2e
nitrous oxide (N2O) = 310 CO2e
To convert tons of methane to CO2e, simply multiply by 23. Nitrogen is
a significant source of GHG for two main reasons.
1) Producing commercial nitrogen is a very energy intensive process
2) After nitrogen is applied to the field, either as synthetic fertilizer or
as manure, a certain
percentage of it is volatilized off the field as N2O at the time of
application, this is referred to as
direct emissions. Indirect N2O emissions are a fraction of the nitrogen
that has leached through
the ecosystem to another site. Limiting N in a cow’s diet (and therefore
manure) and
conserving synthetic N applied to fields reduce N2O emissions from
agriculture
Enteric methane The gut of the cow is full of bacteria that produce
methane. About 6% of the
energy source of the cow is released as methane gas from the cow.
Optimizing the diet not
only improves the efficiency of the cow but also reduces the methane
emissions.

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AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE CHANGE: SOME MITIGATIVE
MEASURES.
Some actions that address climate change are simply good
management practices such as: efficient Nitrogen fertilizer and manure
use, farm energy efficiency, cover cropping, and development of local
markets. Innovative farming practices that may address climate
change can also enhance
profitability and/or air or soil quality (such as use of bio-diesel and
alternative fuels, on-farm energy generation, and reduced tillage
systems).
According to CAST (the Council on Agricultural Science and
Technology), agriculture has a role to play in the broader effort to
reduce greenhouse gas concentrations by:
• Taking CO2 from the atmosphere and sequestering it in biomass
and soils;
• Decreasing the rate of land clearing for agriculture and taking
marginal lands out of production;
• Changing agricultural practices on productive, established
agricultural lands;
• Increasing efficiency of farm inputs such as fuel, fertilizers, and
pesticides;
• Increasing production of agricultural biofuels (renewable
biological-based energy
fuels) to replace fossil energy emissions;
• Improving N-use efficiency as the primary means of decreasing
N2O emissions;
• Decreasing methane emissions by capturing or preventing
emissions from animal manure storage and by increasing
livestock production efficiency.
The scientific evidence leaves little room for doubt that our climate is
changing, and that
agriculture will be affected. The sooner Extension and other service
providers become
familiar with the issue and with the range of possible responses, the
sooner we will be able
to integrate climate change into our programming, as one of the many
factors that farmers
should consider when making management decisions.

The roles of stakeholders in mitigating emissions.

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The stakeholders includes the farmer, various government agencies
the FAO and The UN.
In the words of Peter Holmgren, the FAO spokeman for the UN climate
change negotiations, Millions of poor farmers around the globe could
help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but this requires massive
investments and information — to change unsustainable farming
methods and to train farmers in mitigation practices. Concluding,
Holmgren noted that current global funding arrangements such as the
Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism are not reaching
farmers in poor countries. New and more flexible financing
mechanisms are needed that offer incentives to farmers, including
smallholders, so that they may participate in greenhouse gas emission
reductions and removals. If agriculture in developing countries
becomes more sustainable, if it increases its productivity and becomes
more resilient against the impact of climate change, this should help to
reduce the number of around one billion hungry people and offer
better income and job opportunities. The scope of the Clean
Development Mechanism, for example, could be expanded in order to
include reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation, wetlands, croplands and grasslands, in order to realize
the high potential for sequestering carbon in soils and above ground
biomass.In addition to all the above, it must be noted that reducing
nitrogen and energy use is the greatest way to save money and also
mitigate climate change. Improving dairy cow diet will also improve
methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Capturing and destroying
methane created in manure lagoons would also reduce emissions.
However, the greatest opportunity may be to farm for biofuels and
displace the emissions from fossil fuel used by other sectors of society.

Sustainable livestock management and the reduction of

Green House Gas emissions.
Land used for livestock production, including grazing land and cropland
dedicated to the production of feed, represents approximately 70
percent of all agricultural land in the world. Overgrazing is the greatest
cause of degradation of grasslands. Improved land management
practices would help to achieve a balance between competing
demands for animal food products and environmental services.
Improved pasture management and silvopastoral systems are effective
ways to conserve the environment and mitigate climate change.
Recent linking of pasture regeneration policies and programmes to no-
till based integrated crop/pasture/livestock systems in Brazil appears
promising for both farmers and the environment. Sustainable
intensification and improved manure management are further options
to reduce GHG emissions per unit of livestock product, and the use of
biogas from animal waste can reduce dependence locally on fossil
energy.

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Strategies for adapting to the effect of climate change on
agriculture.
Disruption or decline in global and local food supplies due to climate
change can be avoided
through more efficient irrigation and watershed management,
improved crop varieties, improved
land cultivation, farm and livestock management and the development
of crop varieties and
breeds that are adapted to changing climatic conditions. An effective
use of climate data and forecasts, through early warning systems, can
assist in analysing the impacts of climate change
on agricultural production and the entire food chain.
Water management.
Raised productivity from improved agricultural water management will
be essential to buffer
the anticipated volatility of rainfed production. Managing the
production risk in the face of increasing aridity and more variable
rainfall events will require both rainfed and irrigated
agricultural systems to become much more responsive and flexible in
approach. Progressive
adjustment of large-scale irrigation schemes will be essential to
maintain and grow output
in line with demand and improved local water management practices
will allow vulnerable groups to adapt livelihoods.
Proper management Of Soils.
The global soil carbon pool exceeds biomass pools by a factor of four
or five, without taking into account that recent soil degradation has led
to losses of between 30 percent and 75 percent of their antecedent soil
organic carbon. Globally, therefore, a soil carbon increase offers great
mitigation potential. The restoration of wastelands,
degraded/desertified soils and ecosystems (e.g. forest restoration,
improved pastures) and adoption of improved farm management
practices, can enhance and restore soil organic carbon, control and
reduce GHG emissions, and improve soil quality and soil health. Such
management practices can at the same time improve food security as
well as soil-related environmental services.
The role Of agricultural biodiversity.
Agricultural biodiversity will be an important element in the
development of production strategies to meet the challenges of
climate change, by increasing resilience to changing environmental
conditions and stress (drought, salinity, flooding). Ecosystem services
(such as genetic resources, soil formation or nutrient cycling) build
important measures of resilience and risk mitigation into agriculture –
elements that are increasingly important under changing climates.
Adaptation and mitigation through sustainable forest
management

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Around 13 million hectares of forests are lost annually due to
deforestation. Sustainable management of forests, reducing emissions
from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD),
afforestation/reforestation and forest restoration, as well as sustainably
produced wood products that replace more carbon-intensive materials
and fuels, are important mitigation options. Climate change is affecting
the health of forests through an increase of forest fires, pests and
diseases. Adaptation measures not only reduce the vulnerability of the
world’s forests and forest dependent people, but can help to protect
water and soil resources and biodiversity. Without economic or other
incentives and without political will, however, it will be difficult to
reduce deforestation and forest degradation and achieve long-lasting
adaptation and mitigation measures.

Strategies for mitigating the effect of climate change on

Fisheries and Aquaculture include the following:

• Adopt environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient fishing and

aquaculture techniques
• Eliminate subsidies that promote overfishing and excess
fishing capacity.
• Undertake assessments of local vulnerability and risk.
• Build local-level ocean climate models.
• Strengthen knowledge of the dynamics of biogeochemical
cycles in aquatic ecosystems, especially of carbon and nitrogen.
• Encourage sustainable, environmentally friendly biofuel
production from algae and seaweed.
• Explore carbon sequestration in aquatic ecosystems.
• Implement comprehensive and integrated ecosystem
approaches to managing oceans, coastal zones, fisheries and
aquaculture; to adapting to climate change; and to reducing risk
from natural disasters.

MDGs and Climate Change

Climate change presents significant threats to the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals especially those related to eliminating
poverty and hunger and promoting environmental sustainability. An
increasing body of evidence are pointing to the disproportionate
negative impact climate change will have on the poorest countries
who, ironically, have contributed least to the problem. Climate change
is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of severe weather
events. Poor countries lack the infrastructure necessary (e.g. storm
walls, water storage) to respond adequately to such events. Diseases
such as malaria are likely to have wider ranges, impacting more people

224
in the poorest regions of developing nations that are already most
affected by such diseases. Changing rainfall patterns could devastate
rain-fed agriculture on which so much of the population in developing
countries depends to survive. In Africa, for example, only 4% of all
cropped land is irrigated.
What Must Be Done:
Rich Countries
Whilst rich countries are most responsible for climate change, it is poor
countries that are paying the price. Rich countries must therefore
assume first responsibility and:
Immediately implement deep emission cuts
Meet their aid commitments to achieve the Millennium Goals
Provide additional aid for adaptation measures for dealing with climate
change
Transfer existing and new adaptation technology measures
Create incentives for poor countries to limit their emissions while
safeguarding their right to development
Poor Countries
Ensure rights to land, forests, water, energy and livelihood for their
poorest people
Integrate climate change initiatives into national MDG-based
sustainable development plans as part of their contribution to global
mitigation
Prioritize renewable energy resources, where possible

Revision Questions

1.What is climate change?

2.What factors are responsible for climate?

3. Explain briefly some implications of climate change on agriculture

4.what mitigative measures can be adapted to effectively tackle the

vagaries of climate change

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