AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION IN NIGERIA FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY

Adenekan, M.O¹, Augustus. E.O² & Ala, A.O¹.

¹Department of Agriculture, Federal College of Agriculture, Ibadan., Nigeria

²Department of General Studies, Federal College of Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria

Email: mopadenekan@yahoo.com; Corresponding author: Adenekan, M.O

ABSTRACT

In Nigeria, agriculture still remains a crucial sector, employing over 70 percent of the force, serving as a potential vehicle for diversifying the economy and enabling economic development. As a critical sector of the economy that seeks to reduce poverty, attain poverty and food security, agriculture is the principal source of food and livelihood in Nigeria. Other important benefits of the agricultural sector to the Nigerian economy include: provision of food, contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), provision of employment, provision of raw materials for agro-allied industries and generation of foreign exchange. Agricultural exports were the main source of foreign exchange earnings until the early 1970s. While agriculture and oil composed about 65 percent and 5 percent of GDP respectively when Nigeria got independence in 1960, the sectors accounted for about 32 percent and 37 percent, respectively in 2006. Today agriculture contributes about 45 per cent of our country’s GDP and employs around two-third of the workforce, including 90 per cent of the rural population.  Sustainable development as a concept has been described as development that meets the needs of the present generation, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their food requirement. Therefore adoption of developmental policies and practices that will ensure sustainable technologies and resource efficient farming systems are necessary for optimum food production.

Keywords: Sustainable, Agriculture, Security, Invasion, Economy, Policy, Transformation.