This article depicts approaches to agricultural development in Nigeria through strategies adopted by various programs and projects aimed at achieving massive food production for the masses.
It explores the relationship with rural development and the active role gender plays in Nigeria’s agricultural development programs.
Approaches to Agricultural Development in Nigeria
Agriculture is recognized as a key factor in the well-being and economic development of any country. It remains the major occupation for many rural residents and engages the majority of Nigerians for food security.
Ujo (1999) noted that about 80% of Nigeria’s working population was involved in agriculture at independence in 1960. Presently, agriculture is believed to be the largest employer of labor among Nigeria’s rural poor, sustaining 90% of the rural and 70% of the total labor force.
Historically, Nigerian farmers produced mainly for subsistence using simple tools like cutlasses and hoes, focusing on crops such as palm oil/kernels, cocoa, rubber, cotton, groundnuts, rice, guinea corn, maize, and cassava, some of which were exported as raw materials.
Development, holistically, is conceptualized as a process by which a society harnesses, mobilizes, and utilizes all available resources human and material to improve quality of life, increase production, and ensure equitable distribution.
Agricultural development, a dimension of this process, aims to enhance the agricultural sector’s productive capacity by transforming the rural economy from peasant subsistence to commercialized enterprises.
In developing countries, agricultural development is a core component of rural development programs, sustaining vibrant rural economies and ensuring local food sufficiency and export products.
Agricultural development focuses on improving the quality of life for rural farmers and is increasingly integrated into national development plans, which outline policies on land use, productivity improvement, cottage industries, irrigation, marketing, pricing, agricultural education, and rural development (Ekong, 2003).
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Decline in Nigerian Agricultural Productivity
For decades, Nigeria’s agriculture has experienced a sharp decline attributed to factors including government neglect, insincerity, policy inconsistencies, cultural inertia, illiteracy, and globalization.
Idachaba (2006) attributed this decline primarily to government neglect, driven by foreign exchange from non-agricultural commodities, especially crude oil, and political instability causing discontinuities in agricultural policies, sending negative signals to potential investors.
Government Response to Agricultural Decline
In response to agriculture’s declining fortunes, the Nigerian government established the Ministry of Agriculture in 1973 and initiated various agricultural policies within National Development Plans.
These include the National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP) of 1973, River Basin Development Authority (RBDA) of 1974, Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) of 1975, Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) of 1976, and Green Revolution Programme of 1980.
Other programs include the National Special Programme on Food Security (NSPFS), National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), School to Land programme in Rivers State and other regions, Rural Banking Scheme of 1979, and People’s Bank of 1987.
The government also established agricultural research institutes, universities, colleges of agriculture, faculties of agriculture in conventional universities, farm settlements, and various small- and large-scale farms across the country.
Rural Development and Agricultural Production in Nigeria
1. Defining Rural Areas in Agricultural Contexts
According to SARDF (1997), a rural area is a sparsely populated region where people farm or depend on natural resources, including dispersed villages and small towns.
2. Understanding Rural Development in Agriculture
Rural development involves actions to improve living standards in non-urban neighborhoods and villages. SARDF (1997) defines it as helping rural people set community priorities through democratic bodies, providing local capacity investment in infrastructure, social services, justice, equity, security, and addressing past injustices, particularly for women.
Ekong (2003) describes rural development as a process implementing technical, social, cultural, and institutional measures with rural inhabitants to improve socio-economic conditions, achieving regional and national harmony.
Agbonifo (1987) views it as general improvement in rural inhabitants’ income, health, and capacity to sustain enhanced living conditions. While agricultural activities dominate rural areas in developing countries, rural development is broader, with agricultural development as one aspect.
3. Need for Accelerated Agricultural Development in Nigeria
Agriculture is Nigeria’s principal livelihood source, employing nearly three-quarters of the workforce, primarily smallholder farmers with farms under 2 hectares, reliant on rain-fed systems.
Accelerated agricultural development is critical for local food supply, employment, and foreign exchange earnings, and is essential for meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on poverty and hunger reduction.
The need for appropriate policies is underscored by declining agricultural spending in Africa by USAID and the World Bank.
Concepts and Processes of Rural Development in Nigerian Agriculture
Rural development transforms rural communities into socially, educationally, economically, politically, and materially desirable conditions to improve quality of life. It seeks equitable distribution of resources and incomes, integrating the rural poor—majority populations in developing countries—into the national economy.
Objectives of Rural Development in Agricultural Communities
The broad objective is to enhance rural quality of life, with specific goals including: full, productive employment to shift from subsistence; increased food production for improved quality and quantity.
Heightened productivity through education and training; provision of welfare needs like housing, health, roads, water, and electricity; and widespread literacy for informed participation in political, economic, and social activities.
Indicators of Rural Development in Agricultural Regions
The World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO, and WHO provide social indicators for development, including life expectancy, literacy rate, access to health facilities, safe water, sanitation, infant mortality per 1,000 live births, daily calorie intake, residential floor space, electric power consumption, and adequacy of infrastructure, especially roads.
Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural Development
Obstacles include soil infertility from water and wind erosion, addressable through soil covers, organic matter, and agronomic practices; wind erosion mitigated by planting economically valuable trees; inadequate rain-fed agriculture, requiring Fadama support.
Poorly tailored macroeconomic and agricultural policies; and uncontrolled food imports, which can be curbed by promoting local production through input availability, land access, soft loans, subsidized inputs, processing, storage, market linkages, and facilities.
Additional problems include inadequate funding, inappropriate technology, high extension-farmer ratios, and lack of functional rural institutions.
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Gender Issues in Nigerian Agricultural and Rural Development
Gender inequalities have persisted in women’s lives for decades, necessitating attention due to their impact on sustainable development.
Women’s increasing contributions to agriculture and rural development are critical. Recognizing women’s roles in socio-economic life is a prerequisite for rural development.
1. Women and Gender in Agricultural Contexts
Women and gender are often misconstrued as synonymous due to longstanding disproportionate gender relations. Women’s issues gained global attention at the 1975 Mexico City women’s conference, addressing discrimination, neglect, dignity loss, and resource access challenges.
Past approaches isolated women’s issues from global policies, exacerbating discrimination and underfunding. The women and development unit, created for women’s welfare, was adversely affected, making little impact on policy.
2. Gender Disparities in Agricultural Development
Gender issues are integral to Nigerian agriculture, historically characterized by gendered labor divisions. Men’s shift to higher-income activities has left most agricultural tasks to women, widening disparities.
In Africa, 60-80% of agricultural activities are performed by women, who spend over two-thirds of their time on food production.
Nigerian women, 49.6% of the population, produce 60-80% of food alongside reproductive roles. Of 95% small-scale farmers feeding the nation, 55% are women.
In southwestern Nigeria, men clear land and make yam mounds, while women plant, weed, stake, harvest, and market yam and cassava (World Bank, 2003). Only 14% of adult women own land, compared to 80% of men, and women lack access to formal credit.
3. Gender-Specific Efforts in Agricultural and Rural Development
Global recognition of gender issues has prompted actions for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Nigerian governments have raised women’s consciousness, integrating them into socio-economic and political schemes through agricultural programs, including;
Better Life for Rural Women (BLF), Family Economic Support Programme (FESP), Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), Child Care Trust (CCT), Women Trafficking and Child Labour (WOTCLEF).
Royal Advancement Programme (RADEV), Health is Wealth in Oyo State, Youth Empowerment Scheme in Niger State (YES), Women in Development (WID), Women in Agriculture (WIA), Women in Nigeria (WIN), and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Researches.
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