Nigeria extends from 5o N latitude and 2.5 o E to almost 15o E longitude. It has a total land area of 924, 000 km2, out of which 70% can be used for Agriculture purposes. The physical and climatic features of the country have resulted in parallel vegetation and ecological zones, which range from the Mangrove swamps of the coastal areas with almost no dry season in the extreme south to the Sahel savannah zone in the extreme north, with over five dry months a year. The elevation varies from sea level to over 100m. A diversity of crops can be grown, including roots and tubers of tropical rain forest crops of semi-arid areas, such as sorghum (Sorghum bicolar) and millet (Pennizsetum typhoids), and sub-tropical crops such as potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and varieties of Vegetable.
Agriculture covers all human activities in producing raw food and fibre commodities. Farming is the nucleus of agriculture. However there are other related activities such as processing, transportation, storage and marketing. So agriculture involves a wide range of activities, many of which do not happen on the farm and not managed by the farmers. Agriculture holds the key to the future, the future which world’s leaders wrapped in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), this key is what Nigeria as a nation holds in nature(climate and resources). In 2000 the member states of the United Nations adopted the Millennium Declaration as a renewed commitment to human development. The Declaration includes eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), each with quantified targets, to motivate the international community and provide an accountability mechanism for actions taken to enable millions of poor people to improve their livelihoods.
About 70 percent of the MDGs’ target group live in rural areas, particularly in Asia and Africa, and for most of the rural poor agriculture is a critical component in the successful attainment of the MDGs. Even though structural transformations are important in the longer term, more immediate gains in poor households’ welfare can be achieved through agriculture, which can help the poor overcome some of the critical constraints they now face in meeting their basic needs. Thus, a necessary component in meeting the MDGs by 2015 in many parts of the world is a more productive and profitable agricultural sector.
While the linkage with agriculture is particularly strong for the first MDG, or MDG 1—halving by 2015 the proportion of those suffering from extreme poverty and hunger—all MDGs have direct or indirect linkages with agriculture. Agriculture contributes to MDG 1 through agriculture-led economic growth and through improved nutrition. In low-income countries economic growth, which enables increased employment and rising wages, is the only means by which the poor will be able to satisfy their needs sustainably.
MDG 2, on universal education, has the most indirect linkage to agriculture. A more dynamic agricultural sector will change the assessment of economic returns to educating children, compared to the returns from keeping children out of school to work in household (agricultural) enterprises. Agriculture contributes to MDG 3 directly through the empowerment of women farmers and indirectly through reduction of the time burden on women for domestic tasks. Agriculture contributes to reduced child mortality (MDG 4) indirectly by increasing diversity of food production and making more resources available to manage childhood illnesses. Agriculture directly helps improve maternal health (MDG 5) through more diversified food production and higher-quality diets, and indirectly through increased incomes and, thus, reduced time burdens on women. Agriculture also directly helps to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases (MDG 6) through higher-quality diets, and indirectly by providing additional income that can be devoted to health services. Agriculture practices can be both direct causes of and important solutions to environmental degradation (MDG 7). More productive agricultural technologies allow the withdrawal of agriculture from marginal, sensitive environments. Developing a global partnership for development (MDG 8) will help maintain the steady increase in agricultural trade and significant increases in development assistance offered to the agricultural sector, increases that help sustain the benefits from agriculture in the longer term.
So sustainable agriculture productivity and food and nutrition security will be essential for responding effectively and responsibly to reach the Millennium Development Goals. Though Nigeria might have little or nothing to offer in the place of technology for now, but in the place of agriculture will have a lot to give, In 2005, agriculture(including crop production, livestock, forestry and fish production) accounted for 32.76% of the gross domestic product (GDP), second only to crude petroleum which accounted for 38.87%. Before the discovery and exploitation of oil in commercial quantities, the Nigeria economy rely solely on agriculture production then Nigeria exported groundnut, cocoa, palm-oil, cotton, rubber, hide and skin etc. it is on record that from the end of second world war uptill 1966, Nigeria was one of the leading producer of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), a crop native to Western Africa, Malaysia had to send men here to under study the production process, today Malaysia ranks as the world’s leading producer and exporter of oil palm, with Nigeria relegated to the background, what of other cash crops like cocoa our position has moved from leading in the early 60’s to a fluctuating status.
There has always been the need to develop agriculture in Nigeria. This is attested to by the increasing food demand and upturn in agricultural research funds. There is also the realization that given the necessary consideration, labour could be released from agriculture to other sectors of the economy for the overall development and meeting out target of been among the twenty, leading economy of the world come 2020. But for now our agriculture is dominated by small-scale, rural-based, non-literate, poor resource based farmers, about 55% of the total farming population who manage their land, labour, capital, crops, livestock and other resources based on their indigenous knowledge system.
Nigeria been a leading economy come 20-2020, the key is Agriculture, like we know development of any country is organized into two sectors; the economic and social sector. This essay is concerned with the economic sector which basically comprises of Agriculture and Industries. The sectors that offers employment highest is the Agricultural sector, it involves use of modern technologies to drive production and marketing activities. It is a traditional sector of the economy that features prominently in the culture of the people. Therefore development of the agricultural sector involves the release of Agricultural labour for work in other areas of the economy; it is only when this is done that we can say development has taken place.
The major problem I believe over the year has been with such release is the lack of proper alignment with modern technology. So with the sluggishness in the Agricultural sector, the industries also cannot grow, because Agriculture has a role to play in industrial development.
It is true that the output from this traditional system sustained Nigeria, but with the growing population, world food shortage, meeting the MDG’s, Nigeria must intensify effort to enhance the productivity of farmers. The fluctuations and decline in foreign exchange from petroleum should induce us to push to have a diversified economy with agriculture being a very strong component. Promoting agricultural development however requires exposing the farming population to improve techniques and information derived from agricultural research from the various institute in the country, the like of International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan and Institute for Oil Palm Research in Enugu, etc.
The government should play more active role in facilitating and supporting agriculture activities as witnessed in the 1960-1969. The country should return actively to the production of cocoa, rubber and oil palm in the southern states. Cassava the now wonder crop should go on large farms, speciality should be sought in these areas, then we begin to export seeds, products and crops abroad, so the likes of Malaysia can come back again, but this time it will be the whole world depending on us, to feed them, and aid in achieving the MDG’s.
Since the Chinese have become known for herbal medicine as well as technology, Japan became known for technology. India is also becoming a hub for ICT. USA is known for commerce and industries. The Asian Tigers also are known for all kinds of manufacturing. If, Nigeria as a Nation get along with Agriculture now, Nigeria will be known as the Food Basket of Nations come 2020 and beyond. And we would be exporting not only food but new innovation and technology from the Agriculture sector, thereby releasing labour to other sector of the economy of our state Nigeria and other Nations of the world.
