History of Agriculture in Nigeria
- The Colonial Era
During the colonial era, rural agriculture was practiced. Hoes and matchets were the main implements used. With the coming of the Europeans, the peasant farmers were forced to produce cash crops such as groundnuts, cotton, palm oil, cocoa and rubber, which were needed in their home industries. The British merchants bought these at reasonable high prices. In exchange, they sold goods like radio sets, bicycles, motor-cars, etc. to Nigerians. Later, other Europeans joined the British in buying farm products from Nigeria. These foreigners also brought some exotic crops which were adapted to the Nigerian environment. All these led to the spread of rural plantation farms and individual commercial farms since farmers realized that the production and sale of these cash crops then yielded money to buy the exotic goods like radio set, cars, etc. and to enjoy higher standard of living.
In this era, the government took steps to develop agriculture in the following ways:
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