In
order to revamp the agricultural sector, successive governments in Nigeria had
embarked on and implemented several agricultural policies some of which are
defunct or abandoned, and some restructured while others are still in place.
Nigeria‘
agricultural policy framework has gone through a number of evolutionary
processes and fundamental changes that reflected, in a historical perspective,
the changing character of agricultural development problems and the roles which
different segments of the society were expected to play in tackling these
problems.
Read: Challenges of the Effectiveness of Agricultural Policies
History of Agricultural Development Policies in Nigeria
It
is equally important to address the history of agricultural development
policies in Nigeria. This unit is set to address this.
In
retrospect, four distinct agricultural policy phases can be identified in
Nigeria, namely:
1.
The first phase spanned the entire colonial period and the first
post-independence decade from 1960 to about 1969.
2.
The second phase covered the period from about 1970 to about 1985.
3.
The third phase started from about 1986 in the structural adjustment period.
4.
The fourth was what could be characterized as the post structural adjustment
era starting from about 1994.
The Pre-1970 period
In the pre-1970 era, the government philosophy of agricultural development was characterized by minimum direct government intervention in agriculture.
As such, the
government‘s attitude to agriculture was relaxed, with the private sector and
particularly the millions of small traditional farmers bearing the brunt of
agricultural development efforts.
Government
efforts were merely supportive of the activities of these farmers and largely
took the form of:
i.
Agricultural research and extension
ii.
Export crop marketing
iii.
Pricing activities.
Agricultural research and
extension: The following agricultural research institutes were
established during the pre-1970 period to help achieve increase in the
production of those respective crops, livestock and fisheries.
The 1970 to 1985 Era (period of maximum government intervention)
This
phase was characterized by a change of policy from minimal government
intervention to maximum in the agricultural sector. The oil boom featured in
the era which brought about enormous financial investments in agricultural
projects and institutions.
Many
agricultural policies and programmes were enunciated and they are discussed
below:
1. Agricultural commodity
marketing and pricing policy: The major instrument of
agricultural commodity marketing and pricing policy was the establishment of
six national commodity boards in 1977 to replace the regional, multi commodity
boards that had been operating since 1954.
The
six new national commodity boards were for:
i.
Cocoa
ii.
Groundnut
iii.
Palm Produce
iv.
Cotton
v.
Rubber
vi.
Food Grains.
The
case of the grains marketing board was particularly unique as it represented
the first effort ever made to extend the marketing board system to cover food
crops.
The
National Grains Board handled maize, millet, sorghum, wheat, rice, and cowpea.
It administered a guaranteed minimum price policy whereby floor prices were
nationally set for each of the six grain crops and the board would intervene as
a buyer of last resort if and when their regular market prices fell below the
guaranteed minimum.
The
board also operated a strategic grain reserve scheme.
Under
this policy, the programmes and schemes launched were:
i.
National Commodity Boards
ii.
National Grains Boards
iii.
Guaranteed Minimum Price Scheme
iv.
Strategic Grain Reserve Scheme
2. Land use policy: This
was promulgated by the Federal Government in 1978 vesting the ownership of all
lands on the government as to give genuine farmers access to farmlands.
3. Agricultural extension
and technology transfer policy: This is aimed at improving
the adoption of improved agricultural technology by farmers with the National
Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP) and Agricultural Development Projects
(ADPs) as implementing agencies.
4. Input supply and
distribution policy: This was promulgated to ensure adequate and
orderly supply of agricultural inputs notably fertilizers, agro-chemicals,
seeds, machinery and equipment as follows:
a.
In 1975 Government centralized fertilizer procurement and distribution with
numerous agro-service centres nationwide.
b.
In 1972 Government created National Seeds Service (NSS) to produce and multiply
improved seeds such as rice, maize, cowpea, millet, sorghum, wheat and cassava.
5. Agricultural input
subsidy policy: As far back as the 1950s, various regional
governments in Nigeria were already subsidizing the prices of key inputs,
especially the prices of agrochemicals used in the production of groundnut,
cotton, cocoa, palm produce, and other export crops. But in the early 1970s,
input subsidy policy became centralized and its application extended to food
crops.
The
policy instruments adopted comprised the following:
a) Fertilizer
subsidy. Between 1976 and 1979, fertilizer attracted a 75% subsidy, wholly
borne by the Federal Government. But in 1980, the Federal Government‘s share
was
b) Seed
subsidy. There was a subsidy of 50% or more on various improved seeds produced
by the National Seed Service (NSS).
c) Subsidy
on agrochemicals. Rates of subsidy on agrochemicals varied, but were generally
over 50%.
d) Subsidy
on tractor hires services. Subsidies on tractor hire services that were mostly
operated at the state level ranged from about 25% to about 50% of the actual
cost of tractor services.
6. Agricultural research
policy: The policy was aimed at coordination and harmonization
of agricultural research and extension linkage. Agricultural Research Council
of Nigeria (ARCN) was established in 1971. The 1973 Decree empowered the
Federal Government to take over all state research institutions. The 1975
reconstitution by the Federal Government of the Nigerian Agricultural Research
Institute network led to the establishment of 14 institutes which were later
increased to 19 and the creation in 1977 of the National Science and Technology
Development Agency to coordinate all research activities in Nigeria.
Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) coordinates the research
institutes under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in
Nigeria now.
7. Agricultural
co-operatives policy: The following were the major instruments:
a) In
1979, a department of agricultural cooperatives within the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development was created to actualize
this policy aimed at encouragement of farmers to form co-operatives.
b) The
use of agricultural cooperatives for the distribution of some farm inputs as
well as imported food commodities.
c) The
provision of necessary encouragement for the establishment of cooperative farms
and other cooperative enterprises.
8. Water resources and
irrigation policy: The major instrument of the water resources
and irrigation policy was the establishment of eleven (11) River Basin
Development Authorities (RBDAs) in 1977 charged with the responsibility of
developing Nigeria‘s lands and water resources.
RBDAs
had the mandate for:
i.
Land preparation
ii.
Development of irrigation facilities
iii.
Construction of dams, boreholes and roads.
iv.
The distribution of farm and fishing inputs.
v.
direct agricultural production through large-scale mechanized farming under the
civilian regime between 1979 and 1983.
9. Agricultural
mechanization policy: The policy was instrumental to:
a) The
creation of the Ministry of Science and Technology
b) The
establishment of some Universities of Science and Technology
c) The
operation of Tractor Hiring Units in all the states of Nigeria
d) Reduce
import duty on tractors and agricultural equipment and implements
e) generalized
and liberalized subsidies on farm clearing
f) Launch
a machinery ownership scheme in 1980 under which the Federal Government
provided half of the purchase cost of farm machinery to be owned and used by
farming cooperatives or group farms, and establishment of a National Centre for
Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM).
Read: Meaning and Types of Agricultural Policy Instruments
Post-Structural Adjustment Period (SAP) period
With
the adoption of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986, government
admitted the failure of past policies to significantly improve the economy and
reverse the declining trend of production in the agricultural sector.
The
Structural Adjustment Programme relied most especially on the agricultural
sector to achieve the objectives of its far-reaching reforms on diversification
of exports and adjustment of the production and consumption structure of the
economy. Critically with SAP, agricultural sector did not register significant
overall growth for several reasons.
i.
SAP had more of an impact on the distribution of farm incomes than on
agricultural growth and productivity.
ii.
On average, real producer prices of tradable goods did not change significantly
after the policy reforms.
The
decline in output of the export crop subsector contributed to a reduction in
foreign exchange earnings that could affect the foreign exchange requirement of
the agricultural sector. As a result of this reduction and subsequent loss of
export earnings from crops, the country‘s dependence on crude petroleum export
earnings between 1988 and 1992 increased substantially.
In
this phase also, which marked the SAP period:
1. There
was lower agricultural and economic growth with high rates of unemployment.
2. Export
earnings declined to less than 5% as well as widening gap in food supply and
demand.
3. Food
prices increased from 2.6% in 1970 to 1979 period to almost 20% during 1980 to
1989.
4. The
environmental implications of these policy reforms were quite significant,
namely:
i. During
this period, there was increased deforestation with adverse impact on biotic
resources, loss of biodiversity, increased desertification in arid areas and
flooding in lowland areas.
ii. There
was also evidence of increased use of chemicals and abuse of fertilizer use
which led to soil degradation in certain agro-ecological zones.
5. With
respect to the index of real agricultural sector GDP between 1985 and 1990, it
was fluctuating over these years. It was negative (0.13 and -1.56) in 1985 and
1986 and positive (36.45,36.35,5.30 and 18.43) in 1987 to 1990.
Read: Guiding Principles of Agricultural and Food Policy Formulation
Conclusion on history of Agricultural Development Policies in Nigeria
In this article you have learnt about the
history of agricultural development policies in Nigeria especially concerning
the four distinct phases. We have learnt the four distinct agricultural policy
phases can be identified in Nigeria, namely:
a) The
first phase spanned the entire colonial period and the first post-independence decade
from 1960 to about 1969
b) The
second phase covered the period from about 1970 to about 1985
c) The
third phase started from about 1986 in the structural adjustment period
d) The
fourth was what could be characterized as the post structural adjustment era
starting from about 1994.
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