Agriculture and development policy: A critical review of Nigerian experience in the period up to 1985

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Abstract

Nigeria, with a population of about 100 million, remains highly dependent upon the agricultural sector with approximately 70% of the population still living in rural areas and deriving their livelihood from the land. Agriculture, therefore, has a crucial role to play in national development. In fulfilling this role, however, the farm sector has not measured up to expectations. Its contribution to GDP has been decreasing for over two decades and the position of the country has shifted from self-sufficiency in agricultural production in the early 1960s to now being a major importer of food and raw materials for domestic industries. It is the contention of this paper that agricultural policy has frequently been misconceived and misdirected within the national development strategies which have been prepared throughout the post-independence period. In particular, it is argued that centralist decision-making has failed to take account of the realities of life in rural areas and to address itself sufficiently to the diversity of conditions — social, cultural and physical — that exist in Nigeria. As a consequence, policy has become unhinged from the needs, aspirations and conditions of the farm population.

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  • Cited by (2)

    Dr M.S. Abdu was, until recently, a research student in the Department of Town and Regional Planning, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K. Robert Marshall is a Senior Lecturer in Town and Regional Planning in the same department.

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