Agriculture plays an important role in the development of all nations. It used to be the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy and that of other developing countries. The importance of agriculture can be grouped into three categories:
Importance of Agriculture to the Individual
- Provision of food: This is the most important contribution of agriculture to man because food is required for our survival. People need food in order to live. Farm animals also need food. The food could be meat, eggs, and milk from farm animals and products from many different crops such as yam, rice, maize etc.
- Provision of shelter materials: This helps to protect man from adverse weather conditions and predators. Agriculture is a source of materials used in building houses. Materials such as timber and leaves are used in building houses.
- Provision of materials for clothing: Agriculture provides fibre, silk and cotton from plants for textile production, hides and skins as well as wool from sheep for clothing, shoes, belts and bags.
- Provision of income: Agriculture provides income for farmers when they sell crop products like yam, rice, plantain, cocoa etc and farm products like meat, milk, eggs and skin.
- Provision of transportation: Some farm animals or livestock are used as means of transportation and carrying of loads particularly in the north such as horses, donkeys and camels.
- Provision of medicine: Some plants that have medicinal values such as the Neem tree, ginger, lemon grass etc. are used as drugs to cure ailments. E.g neem and lemon grass leaves are used to cure malaria. Ginger is used to cure catarrh, etc.
NB: Agriculture meets the three basic needs of man.
Importance of Agriculture to the Society
1. Provision of employment: This is the main contribution of Agriculture to the society. It is the largest income-generating sector in Nigeria. It employs about 50-60% of the people. The majority of people who reside in rural areas are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Agriculture provides employment for people in two ways:
(i) As a means of self-employment for those directly involved in crop and animal husbandry, processing and marketing of produce, etc.
(ii) As a source of paid employment such as in the Ministry of Agriculture, schools and colleges, research institutes, banks and agro-allied industries.
2. Development of rural areas: Agriculture brings about construction of good roads, provision of pipe borne water, electricity and school for the children of farmers in the villages.
3. Provision of recreation and sport: Some farm animals provide form of amusement and other are used for sporting activities. It leads to the establishment of game reserves and parks (e.g. Obudu Cattle Ranch, Yankari Game Reserve etc., and bull fights, polo games, horse race, cock fight, fishing festivals, etc.
4. Production of crops and animal products used during cultural and religious ceremonies: Almost all Nigerian tribes present kola-nut and bitter kola during a marriage ceremony. Some crops and animal products e.g. palm-oil, alligator pepper, honey, fish, fowl, cattle etc. are used during naming, marriage and burials. Specific animals are also use for sacrifices and burial ceremonies. For instance, dog is used when worshiping Ogun, (the god of iron). Ram is also used during Muslim festivals while cattle is used during burials.
Importance of Agriculture to the Nation/Economy of the Country
- Provision of foreign exchange earnings: This is the most important contribution of agriculture to the economy of the country. It provides foreign exchange or currency such as dollar, pound sterling when agricultural products such as cocoa, groundnuts, rubber, coffee, palm produce etc. are exported to other countries.
- Provision of market for industrial goods: Agriculture provides a ready market for industrial goods such as farm machinery, chemicals, fertilizers, storage and processing facilities.
- Source of revenue for the government: Government receives a lot of revenue from the export of agricultural products through export duties and tax. The revenue is used to service other sector of the economy. It also boosts internally generated revenue of the government (taxes collected from the farmers, agro-based industries, foresters etc).
- Provision of food for the working population: Agriculture helps to provide the needed nourishment for the working population thereby, boosting their productivity.
- Provision of raw materials for industries: Agriculture supplies various industries with raw materials for their continuous existence or production. Industries that depend on agriculture for their materials are called agro-allied or agro-based industries.
