Agriculture is the foundation and bedrock upon which the development of stable human community has depended on throughout the whole universe such as rural and urban communities. It is concerned with the husbandry of crops and animals for food and other purpose.
The study of the history of economics provides us with ample evidence that can agricultural revolution is a fundamental pre-condition for economic development. The agricultural sector has the potentials to be the industrial and economic springboard from which a country’s development can take off.
Indeed, more often than not, agricultural activities are usually concentrated in the less developed rural areas where there is a need for rural transformation, redistribution, poverty alleviation and socio-economic development.
The agricultural sector has the potentials to shape the landscape, provide environmental benefits such as conservation, guarantee sustainable management of renewable natural resources, preserve biodiversity and contribute to the viability of rural areas development.
Through its spheres of activities at both the macro and micro levels, the agricultural sector is strategically positioned to have a high multiplies and linkage effect on any nation’s quest for socio-economic and industrial development.
The relationship between agriculture and development, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, cannot be overemphasized. As a roadmap to attaining development, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was adopted in year 2000 and in Africa, 70% of the development target group live in rural areas and are dependent on agriculture for a living (IFPRI, 2004).
Invariably, reducing poverty, improving nutrition and general well-being of the population would imply improving the livelihood of this majority and this hinges critically on the performance of the agriculture sector.
For example, using World Development Indicator (WDI) data from Nigeria for selected periods, they is a strong positive correlation between food production and primary school enrollment ratio and gender equality while there is a strong negative correlation between food production and child mortality rates. This gives some evidence on the importance of agriculture in economic development.
MDG goal is to eradicate poverty and extreme hunger. This is directly linked to agriculture through availability and access to food. Increased food production can only be achieved through agricultural growth.
However, sustained economic development cannot be achieved without economic growth. As expressed by the World Bank (2006), high poverty level will lead to low growth and low growth will lead to high poverty level. Thus, economic growth is necessary for sustained economic development (Akanbi & Du Toit, 2011; World Bank, 2006).
This Article looks into the contribution of agriculture to aggregate economic growth in Nigeria. The fact that economic growth is necessary for sustained development, coupled with data limitation, triggers the focus on investigating the contributions of agriculture to economic growth, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in Nigeria.
What is agriculture?
Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops and raising livestock. It includes the preparation of plant and animal products for people to use and their distribution to markets.
Agriculture provides most of the world’s food and fabrics. Cotton, wool, and leather are all agricultural products. Agriculture also provides wood for construction and paper products.
These products, as well as the agricultural methods used, may vary from one part of the world to another.
Brief history of agriculture
Over centuries, the growth of agriculture contributed to the rise of civilizations. Before agriculture became widespread, people spent most of their lives searching for food, hunting wild animals and gathering wild plants (hunting and gathering societies).
About 11,500 years ago, people gradually learned how to grow cereal and root crops, and settled down to a life based on farming.
By 2,000 years ago, much of the Earth’s population had become dependent on agriculture. Scholars are not sure why this shift to farming took place, but it may have occurred because of climate change.
When people began growing crops, they also began herding and breeding wild animals. Adapting wild plants and animals for people to use is called domestication (pastoral societies).
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The first domesticated plant was probably rice or corn. Chinese farmers were cultivating rice as early as 7500 BCE.
The first domesticated animals were dogs, which were used for hunting. Sheep and goats were probably domesticated next. People also domesticated cattle and pigs. Most of these animals had once been hunted for hides and meat. Now many of them are also sources of milk, cheese, and butter. Eventually, people used domesticated animals such as oxen for plowing, pulling, and transportation.
Agriculture enabled people to produce surplus food. They could use this extra food when crops failed or trade it for other goods. Food surpluses allowed people to work at other tasks unrelated to farming.
Agriculture kept formerly nomadic people near their fields and led to the development of permanent villages. These became linked through trade. New economies were so successful in some areas that cities grew and civilizations developed.
The earliest civilizations based on intensive agriculture arose near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia (now Iraq and Iran) and along the Nile River in Egypt.
Agricultural development
For thousands of years, agricultural development was very slow. One of the earliest agricultural tools was fire. Native Americans used fire to control the growth of berry-producing plants, which they knew grew quickly after a wildfire. Farmers cultivated small plots of land by hand, using axes to clear away trees and digging sticks to break up and till the soil.
Over time, improved farming tools of bone, stone, bronze, and iron were developed. New methods of storage evolved. People began stockpiling foods in jars and clay-lined pits for use in times of scarcity. They also began making clay pots and other vessels for carrying and cooking food.
Around 5500 BCE, farmers in Mesopotamia developed simple irrigation systems. By channeling water from streams onto their fields, farmers were able to settle in areas once thought to be unsuited to agriculture. In Mesopotamia, and later in Egypt and China, people organized themselves and worked together to build and maintain better irrigation systems.
Early farmers also developed improved varieties of plants. For example, around 6000 BCE, a new variety of wheat arose in South Asia and Egypt. It was stronger than previous cereal grains; its hulls were easier to remove and it could be made into bread.
As the Romans expanded their empire, they adapted the best agricultural methods of the people they conquered. They wrote manuals about the farming techniques they observed in Africa and Asia, and adapted them to land in Europe.
The Chinese also adapted farming tools and methods from nearby empires. A variety of rice from Vietnam ripened quickly and allowed farmers to harvest several crops during a single growing season. This rice quickly became popular throughout China.
Many medieval European farmers used an open-field system of planting. One field would be planted in spring, another in autumn, and one would be left unplanted, or fallow. This system preserved nutrients in the soil, increasing crop production.
The leaders of the Islamic Golden Age (which reached its height around 1000) in North Africa and the Middle East made agriculture into a science. Islamic Golden Age farmers learned crop rotation.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, explorers introduced new varieties of plants and agricultural products into Europe. From Asia, they carried home coffee, tea, and indigo, a plant used to make blue dye. From the Americas, they took plants such as potatoes, tomatoes, corn (maize), beans, peanuts, and tobacco. Some of these became staples and expanded people’s diets.
Machinery
A period of important agricultural development began in the early 1700s for Great Britain and the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, which lie below sea level). New agricultural inventions dramatically increased food production in Europe and European colonies, particularly the United States and Canada.
One of the most important of these developments was an improved horse-drawn seed drill invented by Jethro Tull in England. Until that time, farmers sowed seeds by hand. Tull’s drill made rows of holes for the seeds. By the end of the 18th century, seed drilling was widely practiced in Europe.
Many machines were developed in the United States. The cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney in 1794, reduced the time needed to separate cotton fiber from seed. In the 1830s, Cyrus McCormick’s mechanical reaper helped modernize the grain-cutting process.
At about the same time, John and Hiram Pitts introduced a horse-powered thresher that shortened the process of separating grain and seed from chaff and straw. John Deere’s steel plow, introduced in 1837, made it possible to work the tough prairie soil with much less horsepower. Along with new machines, there were several important advances in farming methods.
By selectively breeding animals (breeding those with desirable traits), farmers increased the size and productivity of their livestock.
Cultures have been breeding animals for centuries evidence suggests Mongolian nomads were selectively breeding horses in the Bronze Age. Europeans began to practice selective breeding on a large scale beginning in the 18th century. An early example of this is the Leicester sheep, an animal selectively bred in England for its quality meat and long, coarse wool.
Plants could also be selectively bred for certain qualities. In 1866, Gregor Mendel’s studies in heredity were published in Austria. In experiments with pea plants, Mendel learned how traits were passed from one generation to the next. His work paved the way for improving crops through genetics.
New crop rotation methods also evolved during this time. Many of these were adopted over the next century or so throughout Europe. For example, the Norfolk four-field system, developed in England, proved quite successful. It involved the yearly rotation of several crops, including wheat, turnips, barley, clover, and ryegrass. This added nutrients to the soil, enabling farmers to grow enough to sell some of their harvest without having to leave any land unplanted.
Most of the world was not affected by these developments, however. Farmers in Asia, Australia, Africa, and South America continued to use old ways of agriculture.
What is Socio-economic Development
This may refer to the transformation of a society with regard to social and economic dimensions. Socio-economic development incorporates public concerns in developing social policy and economic initiatives. The ultimate objective of social development is to bring about sustained improvement in the well-being of the individual, groups, family, community, and society at large.
Socio-economic development is a process that seeks to identify both the social and the economic needs within a community, and seek to create strategies that will address those needs in ways that are practical and in the best interests of the community over the long run.
The general idea is to find ways to improve the standard of living within the area while also making sure the local economy is healthy and capable of sustaining the population present in the area. Socio-economic development occurs in neighborhoods in metropolitan areas, sections of smaller cities and towns, and even in rural settings.
There are a number of factors that must be considered as part of any socio-economic development effort. Understanding the current circumstances that prevail in the area is the first step toward regional development. By assessing the potential of human capital in the area, allowing for the current unemployment rate and when laws and regulations are currently in place that may be impeding the introduction of new industry into the area, it is possible to begin developing a plan that will ultimately mean more jobs, stable employment for more households, and more money flowing through the local economy.
Along with finding ways to stabilize the economy and create more jobs, socio-economic development also considers the availability of essential services within the area. This includes the presence of schools and colleges to teach children and prepare young people for careers.
Attracting services such as medical practitioners and health facilities to the area is also important. Creating and maintaining a viable law enforcement agency that helps to maintain order and protect citizens is also very important to the task. Doing so helps to make the community more desirable and helps to minimize the possibility of people leaving to seek those same services elsewhere.
Typically, socio-economic development involves making changes in current laws and regulations in order to attract new growth and enhance the standard of living for local residents. Changes in laws can make it easier for new industry to move into the area and offer employment at equitable wages. This in turn can aid in motivating the creation of more services that citizens can enjoy, allowing the area to prosper.
With the right type of motivation and improvements to the infrastructure, residents are not tempted to move away in order to earn a living or enjoy desirable services, and there is a good chance more people will move into the area and provide further stimulation for the local economy. While there is no one right way to pursue socio-economic development, the process is essential to preventing decline and the eventual extinction of a community
Specific Ways that Agricultural Development Can Lead to Socio-Economic Development in Nigeria
Agriculture is a vital sector for socio-economic development in Nigeria as it is a major source of income and employment for the majority of the population. Some specific ways that agricultural development can lead to socio-economic development in Nigeria include:
Increasing food security: By improving agricultural productivity and reducing post-harvest losses, more food will be available for the population, which will lead to an improvement in food security.
Creating employment opportunities: Agricultural development can create jobs in the farming sector as well as in agribusinesses such as processing, packaging and marketing.
Improving rural livelihoods: Agriculture is a major source of income for rural households, and increasing agricultural productivity can lead to an improvement in the standard of living for these households.
Contribution to The National Income: The agricultural sector in Nigeria is one of the vital sectors that contribute immensely to the national income of the country as it is one of the agricultural exporting countries most. In Nigeria, the agricultural sector has grown in the past years and it has contributed immensely to the economic growth of the country.
By the end of 2019, agriculture accounted for 21.91% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product across other economic sectors.
Boosting foreign exchange earnings: Exportation of agricultural products can provide a valuable source of foreign exchange for the country, which can be used to import goods and services that are not readily available in Nigeria.
Promoting gender equity: Women play a critical role in agriculture in Nigeria, and agricultural development can help to promote gender equity by providing women with access to resources, services and information that will enable them to improve their agricultural productivity.
Enhancing economic growth: agriculture development is a major contributor to economic growth, as it creates value and opportunities for other sectors such as manufacturing, services, and trade.
Supplying other industries with raw materials: agriculture has always been a source of input for major industries like the agro related industries in Nigeria because it supplies raw materials to these industries. Any shortage of agricultural product will have an impact on industrial production, as there will be a hike in prices of goods generally and this will consequently hold back the economic growth.
The production, productivity, and growth of the agro based industries like textile mills, tobacco factories, flour mills, rice Sheller, sugar factories, bread, meat, and other numerous industries are highly dependent on the production and productivity of the agricultural sector.
Diversification of The Economy: Agriculture has helped to diversify the Nigerian economy. In the past, the Nigerian government use to depend majorly on the income from the oil sector neglecting the agricultural sector. But when oil prices started declining, the government started paying attention to the agricultural sector which has also helped to diversify the economy.
Leads to Industrialization: Agriculture is a good method of industrialization in every country of the world as the proper harnessing of agricultural products and by-products will lead to rapid industrialization. Most industries in the country depend directly or indirectly on farm produce. For example, the textile industries in Nigeria depends solely on the cotton cultivated from the farm in the country.
Also, the leather industry in the country depends on the hide from the livestock in the northern part of the country.
Eradicate Poverty: In Nigeria, the agricultural sector will go a long way in eradicating poverty as well as improving the lives of the rural people in the country. Though most of the rural people in Nigeria are farmers, if the government pay attention to these people, and also assist in improving the quality of their lives in addition to practicing sustainable agriculture, there would be a great reduction in the level of poverty in Nigeria.
Conclusion
The importance of the agricultural sector of a country cannot be overemphasized as it plays an essential role in the country’s economic development. Agriculture plays an important role in Nigeria, as it is an engine of economic growth in the country. A sustainable agricultural sector in Nigeria literally translates to a sustainable economy.
And as it is seen above, survival will be impossible without agriculture because agriculture does not only feed the mouth, it is also a source of income for both individuals and the government, and it also plays a vital role in the economic development of Nigeria.
If the government is intentional about the agricultural sector of the country, then the government is giving the country another opportunity to be rich again.
In recent times, there has been increasing pressure to increase investment in agriculture due to the need to attain the MGDs among other things. The importance of agriculture development in ensuring poverty reduction and the economic growth hinges on the fact that 70% of the population is employed in the agriculture sector.
The sector’s role of food production, provision of resources for other sectors, creation of viable market and domestic savings gives credence to its importance in economic growth. Also, Nigeria’s natural endowments in agricultural production factors extensive arable land, water, human resources, and capital highlight the potential of agriculture in economic transformation.
In conclusion, it is worthy of note that agriculture is an engine of economic growth in Nigeria and efforts should be made to add value to the sector through increased investment. Based on the evidence from studies, it’s also recommend that the linkages between agriculture and other sectors be strengthened to increase the effect of agriculture growth on growth across the sectors. This can be achieved through increased productivity and the development of agriculture value chain.
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