CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Nigeria has substantial economic potential in its‟
agricultural sector. However, despite the importance of agriculture in terms of
employment creation, its potential for contributing to economic growth is far
from being fully exploited (USAID, 2005). The agricultural sector has been the
mainstay of Nigeria‟s economy employing 70% of the active labour force and
contributes significantly to the country‟s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and
foreign earnings. In 1960, 1970, and 1980, it contributed 55.2%, 40.7% and 18%
to GDP respectively, while its contribution to GDP in 1996, 1997, and 1999
stood at 39.0%, 39.4% and 40.4% respectively (NPC and UNDP, 1999). In 2010
agricultural contribution to GDP stood at 30.0%, while currently as at first
quarter of 2012, it is contributing 34.4% to the GDP (NBS, 2012). However,
there have been recorded decline in agricultural contribution to the national
economic growth for over three decades now since emergence of the oil sector.
This decline could be associated with the gross neglect of the agricultural
sector and over dependence on the oil sector (Ugwu and Kanu, 2012).
The agricultural sector had been constrained with factors
such as poor rural infrastructure, poor fertilizer distributions and high cost
of farm inputs that could have enhance its production capacity and contribution
to the national economy. The oil-boom era had lead to importation of food items
in massive scale at the expense of locally produced ones because the rural
farmers do not have the technological resources to compete in international
market. This discourages the farmers from producing much because they no longer
realized the needed profit from their effort (Ogunwole, 2004). The goal of
increasing food production and reducing food import has elicited many
programmes and policies at the various levels of government (Kudi et al.,
2008). In order to revamp the agricultural sector, the Federal Government of
Nigeria had embarked on and implemented several agricultural policies and
programmes some of which are defunct or abandoned, and some restructured, while
others are still in place. Presidential initiatives on cassava production and a
number of new programme interventionsare currently implemented to increase area
of cassava production, processing and marketing across the country.
Cassava is one of the most widely cultivated crops in the
country. It is generally cultivated on small-holdings in association with crops
such as maize, groundnut, cowpea, plantation (such as coffee, coconut and oil
palm), vegetables and cocoyam depending on the agro-ecological zone and relies
on residual soil nutrients when intercropped with maize which has been
fertilized or as following crop in rotation with legumes (IITA, 2004; Chukwuji,
2008). Cassava is grown mainly on impoverished soils with no soil amendments
such as fertilizers. Continuous cropping of cassava particularly the high
yielding varieties without adequate maintenance of soil fertility could lead to
soil and environmental degradation (IITA, 2004). Nigeria is the largest
producer of cassava in the World. Its production is currently put at about
thirty-four (34) million metric tonnes a year (FAO, 2002).
Nigeria‟s cassava production was targeted at forty (40)
million tonnes in 2005 and sixty (60) million tonnes by 2020 (IITA, 2002). The
presidential Initiative on Cassava Production and Export has increased the
awareness amongst Nigerians of the industrial crop, popularly referred to as
the „new black gold‟. According to Nweke et al. (2002)cassava performs five
main roles namely: famine reserve crop, rural food staple, cash crop,
industrial raw material and earning of foreign exchange. Uses of cassava
products are enormous. Virtually, the whole plant from the leaves, stem and the
roots has one use or the other. Daneji (2011) posited that, cassava is one of
the most staple food crops in many households in Nigeria. The fresh peeled
cassava roots are eaten raw, boiled or roasted. They can also be boiled and
pounded to obtain “pounded fufu”. This is most popular in the Eastern part of
Nigeria. The processed cassava, either in the form of flour, wet pulp or
“garri” is cooked or eaten in three main food forms: “fufu“, “eba” and
“chickwangue” (Adebile, 2012). Cassava leaves are rich in protein, calcium,
iron and vitamins, comparing favourably with other green vegetables generally
regarded as good protein sources. Cassava can be processed into several other
products like chips, flour, pellets, adhesives, alcohol, starch, etc which are
raw materials in livestock feed, alcohol/ethanol, textiles, confectionery,
wood, food and soft drink industries (Iheke, 2008).
In a similar vein, Adebayo (2009) stated that processing the
bulky, perishable crop is an obstacle to its full commercialization in sub-Saharan
Africa. To motivate farmers, especially women who are the main processors of
food in the village, to grow and process their cassava, we need to provide them
with labour-saving implements such as graters, peelers, and crushers. There is
also need to link them to markets. Cassava roots are bulky and with about 70.0%
moisture content, are very perishable. It is therefore, expensive to transport
cassava especially along poor access roads. Therefore, a well-developed market
access infrastructure is crucial for cassava marketing (Adeniji et al., 2006).
However, focus should not be on the exportation of cassava but to develop the
enormous local and regional markets for cassava that exist in the country, West
African sub-region and Africa as a whole rather than start exporting the
industrial raw material to Europe. According to Food and Agriculture
Organization Statistics (2008) Nigeria‟s cassava export in 2005, was 2,100
tonnes compared to the leading exporter, Thailand, with 4,384,350 tonnes. The
performance evaluation of marketing component of cassava initiative include,
establishment of cassava processing centers in each Local Government Area(LGA)
of the cassava producing States (Yisa, 2009). In this regard, rural people are
encouraged to add value to cassava products by processing it for industrial
application and human consumption. Processing of cassava into various
shelf-stable and semi-stable products is a widespread activity in Nigeria
carried out by traditional cassava processors and small-scale commercial
processing units (Henk et al., 2007).
1.2 Problem Statement
Nigeria has a huge agricultural resource endowment and yet
the population is facing hunger and poverty. The agricultural sector is facing
the problem of sustaining food production to meet up the need of increasing
population in the country (Okolo, 2004; Ironkwe, 2005). Various governments in
Nigeria have consistently declared policies aiming at self-sufficiency in food.
The means toward achieving this objective has always been an expansion in
cultivated area and improvement on the yield. Cassava is one of the major
staple crops grown in Kogi State particularly in the study area. Government
intervention programmes and policies, and the efforts of Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) in support of production, processing and marketing of
cassava date back to the 1970s (Adeniji et al., 2006).
Some of the Government agricultural intervention programmes
and policies aimed at increasing agricultural production especially cassava
production include the Farm Settlement Scheme, National Accelerated Food
Production Programme (NAFPP), Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs), River
Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs), National Seed Service (NSS), National
Centre for Agricultural 5
Mechanization (NCAM), Agricultural and Rural Management
Training Institute (ARMTI) and Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund
(ACGSF). Others were the Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural
Development Bank (NACRDB), Agricultural Banks, Operation Feed the Nation (OFN),
Green Revolution (GR), Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure
(DFFRI), Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Company (NAIC), National Agricultural
Land Development Authority (NALDA) and Specialized Universities for
Agriculture.