Description

Nigerian agriculture is characterized by considerable regional and crop diversity. Analysis of this sector, particularly the food sub-sector, is fraught with serious data problems. However, the available statistics provide a broad overview of development in agriculture upon which we can make some broad generalizations about its role in economic development and structural change in Nigeria.

In the 1960s, the agricultural sector was the most important in terms of contributions to domestic production, employment and foreign exchange earnings.  The situation remained almost the same three decades later with the exception that it is no longer the principal foreign exchange earner, a role now being played by oil.

The sector remained stagnant during the oil boom decade of the 1970s, and this accounted largely for the declining share of its contributions.  The trend in the share of agriculture in the GDP shows a substantial variation and long-term decline from 60% in the early 1960s through 48.8% in the 1970s and 22.2% in the 1980s. Unstable and often inappropriate economic policies (of pricing, trade and exchange rate), the relative neglect of the sector and the negative impact of oil boom were also important factors responsible for the decline in its contributions.

On its diversity, Nigerian agriculture features tree and food crops, forestry, livestock and fisheries.  In 1993 at 1984 constant factor cost, crops (the major source of food) accounted for about 30% of the Gross Domestic Products (GDP), livestock about 5%, forestry and wildlife about 1.3% and fisheries accounted 1.2%.
Cassava is one of the most common food crops grown and consumed in many parts of Africa. The crop grows well in various soil types and ecologies. It can be planted alone or in association with man y other crops, like maize, groundnuts, vegetables, and rice.

Cassava is the most important root crop in Nigeria. Apart from being a staple crop in both rural and urban household’s cassava is a major source of income to cassava farmers and processors in the rural areas.

Cassava alone contributes about 45% of agricultural GDP in Nigeria for food or domestic purposes but its industrial processing and utilization has been very limited.

Currently, the country produces about 40,000,000 tons of the cassava tubers annually and is used in the production of numerous products namely garri, starch, ethanol, flour, adhensives. Due to the large demand for cassava tubers in Nigeria, this report seeks to examine the financial viability or otherwise of establishing a cassava plantation in Nigeria.

The proposed plantation would occupy 100 hectares of land and the farm is expected to yield 20 tons of fresh cassava per hectare with the use of improved varieties of stem which matures in six {6} months.