(a) List six problems of agricultural development in Nigeria
(b) State five possible solutions to the problems of agricultural development listed in (a).
(c) Explain five ways in which inadequate storage and processing facilities have affected agricultural development in Nigeria.
Explanation
(a) The problems of agricultural development in Nigeria are:
(i) Inconsistent government policy on agriculture and it: execution
(ii) Inadequate storage facilities
(iii) Inadequate processing facilities / industries.
(iv) Land tenure system
(v) Incidence of pests
(vi) Incidence of diseases
(vii) Inadequate social amenities in rural areas
(viii) Poor transport facilities
(ix) Poor rural road network
(x) Inadequate capital / financial base for farmers
(xi) Use of obsolete tool;
(xii) Inadequate supply of farm inputs, e.g. fertilizers, improved seeds, labour etc
(xiii) Poor marketing and pricing system.
(xiv) Poor agricultural education and extension services
(xv) Inadequate or irregular rainfall
(xiv) Some cultures and religions forbid production and consumption of certain agricultural products
(b) Solutions to the problems of agricultural development in (a) above are:
(i) Efficient use of land through suitable land use policy
(ii) An integrated approach to rural development
(iii) Enough finance / capital base should be provided
(iv) Provision of storage facilities
(v) Provision of adequate processing facilities
(vi) Improvement in agricultural education and extension programmes
(vii) Provision of adequate tools and simple farm machine/Provision of sufficient farm inputs/Farm inputs should be subsidised and made readily available to farmers
(viii) Development of good marketing and pricing system
(ix) Establishment of dams and irrigation system.
(c) Ways in which inadequate storage and processing facilities have militated against agricultural development in Nigeria are:
(i) Inadequate storage facilities force farmers to produce just enough for their family.
(ii) Any surplus is wasted or thrown away due to inadequate storage facilities.
(iii) Inadequate storage facilities cause severe losses.
(iv) Estimated losses are between 20 and 30 percent in the case of cereals and even higher for more perishable food items such as fruits and vegetables.
(v) Rats, insects and micro-organisms cause large amount of food losses due to inadequate storage facilities. This in turn reduces the amount of food output available to buyers.
(vi) Inadequate processing industries in the country has also hampered agricultural development, Such processing industries are rather expensive to set up and therefore not within reach of individual farmers
(vii) Inadequate storage and processing facilities will also force farmers to sell their produce at relatively cheaper rates In subsequent years, they become discouraged and therefore cut down on their output. The aggregate effect of this, is that there will be a general scarcity of certain food items during certain period of the year.