RIVER BASINS AND FOOD CROP PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA. A CASE STUDY OF ANAMBRA RIVER BASIN AND RURAL DEVELOPEMNT AUTHORITY.

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RIVER BASINS AND FOOD CROP PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA.

A CASE STUDY OF ANAMBRA RIVER BASIN AND RURAL DEVELOPEMNT AUTHORITY.

ABSTRACT

For purpose of clarity, the essay is organised in five chapters. Chapter one introduces the essay and also deals with a general survey of food crop production in the world with a general survey of food crop production in the world at large and Nigeria in particular. Chapter two consist of the literature review.

The third chapter describe the study areas, the study areas was divided into distinctive operational zones. Chapter four concentrates on the assessment of the schemes of the Authority directed towards food crop production in the study area.

The final chapter is devoted entirely to conclusion and recommendations.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

While food is man’s most fundamental need, it is surprising that ‘’the threat of famine and the fact of hunger have haunted and nations through history’’ (Kissinger, 1974: 262). That is not war, or communism, or the cost of Living, nor exaction, it is hunger’’ (Wilson, 1953: 15). However, the world food crop production is on the increase. Awake (1985:4) has noted that ii is a matter of fact that if one adds up the total amount of food crop produced, then there is enough to supply and adequate quantity and quality of food for all the world’s five billions persons. The same source further observed that since 1974, developing nations as whole increased total food crop production by 3.4 percent annually and the food production in Latin America and Asia increased more than 32 percent during the last decade and moreover, food crop production increased even in more in the developed world. The situation was summarized by food Report and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in her 1984 world food report, when it noted that ‘’the total world food output increased at a very slightly faster rate than world population.

The production record for all the main groups of agricultural commodities was very mixed, for example, the output of root crop and tuber crops decline over this period. This last observation is very significant as it is aptly pointed out the global segregation or national aggregation conceals a number of very serious difficulties. Therefore, what is important is the specific situation in individual countries and it is this that may likely command attention and thus given reason for alarm.

However, irrespective of the somewhat favourable comment by the FAO, the African Continent is facing a food crises. Many of her countries are unable to feed her population. In many of these countries, drought had hindered efforts geared towards food crop production, and moreover, the global economic recession has further weakened them, making them unable to increase food import sufficiently to off-set the fall in their domestics output. The situation was well described by FAO in her (1984:5) world food Report where it noted that among the events in 1983, the most disturbing was the intensification of the Africa “food crises. That is in other words, the Nigerian agricultural sector is facing one major problem among others, this is the problem of raising the level of agricultural productivity. The issue of inadequate production has reached an alarming proportion that it is now common place other highly placed Nigerians expressing doubts about the ability of the agricultural sector to provide adequate quantity of food for a long and sustained period. The issue of an acute shortage of rice in the recent past bears testimony to the magnitude of the problem of low food product ion. This in part has resulted into a steady rise in food import bill for the country. The bill has risen from N99.1 million in 1972, to N1. 45 billion in 1982. (Business Times, march 10, 1986:14). This is further

ILLUSTRATED IN TABLE 1.

TABLE 1: SHOWING NIGERIAN FOOD IMPORT BILLS FROM 1972 – 1982.

YEARS AMOUNT IN N MILLION
1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 19777 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982	95.10 126.26 153.74 297.86 438.93 739.40 1,020.70 766.50 1,091.00 1,.2 Billion 1.45 Billion

SOURCE: BUSINESS TIMES, MARCH 10, 1986:14. This increasing import bills is an indication for the need to increase per capital agricultural food crop production.

Agricultural imports have become a drain on the country’s Foreign Exchange Earning, Correspondingly, the supply-demand deficit for all food crops have been on the increase. For example, in 1982, the supply-demand deficit for all good crops was about 6.7 million metric tons (Aribisala 1984:100. The projected food supply and demand for 1985 is shown below.

TABLE 11: SHOWING PROJECTED FOOD SUPPLY AND DEMAND IN OOO METRIC TONS.

COMMODITY	PROJECTED DEMAND 1985	PROJECTED SUPPLY OR DOMESTIC PROUCTION
RICE MAIZE VARGHUM MILLET HEALTH CASSAVA COWPEAS GROUNDNUT SOYA-BEAN	1,791 2,634 4,000 4,000 1,830 13,300 1,300 560 80	975 2,374 4,000 3,500 145 10,00 1015 300 50	-816 -260 -500 -500 -1685 -3300 -285 -260 30

SOURCE: BUSINESS TIMES, MARCH 10, 1986: 14. It is in awareness of this supply – demand deficit, which is a manifestation of low food crop production, that the government has made strenuous efforts to improve the level of production for agricultural food crops. It has in addition, made concerted efforts to improve the living conditions of the rural dwellers. Prominent among these efforts are, the launching of operation feed the nation (OFN) in 1976, whose main aim was to make Nigeria self-sufficient in food crop production. The establishment of river Basin authorities throughout the country were to exploit the country’s major rivers for the development of agriculture. There was also in 1979, the national Accelerated food programme, instituted as a measure to bring about the so called Green evolution to Nigeria and probably, provide enough food for the exploitation at reasonable costs to the consumer and a high income the farmers. Some of these programmes have not generally produced the desired results mostly because of administrative settle necks and implantation errors. For example, the River sin Authorities were being made to deposit all revenue derived some sale of various commodities to the annual subventions from the government. This dependency of the basin Authorities redundant, cause the revenues are not given out on a regular basis, they are rationed out as and when fund are available, this sometimes render it ineffective, most especially when they are issued during agricultural off-season.

Broadly speaking, the agricultural development goals of the government are basically two, namely to increase agricultural production especially two, namely to increase agricultural production especially food crops rapidly and to generate rural employment opportunities throughout the country. Other related objectives requires that small-scale farmers should receive adequate support. This is because more than two thirds of the plantations of earning a living (Ojo, 1981:130). Neglecting their requirements may force a very large number of them prematurely art of agriculture. And even, if only for economic considerations, the obvious fact is that most of the country’s agricultural production, particularly food crop, has always come from them. (the rural farmers). The implication therefore is that conveniently policy or action affecting the rural farmers favourably or adversely will have a substantial over-all impact on the economy when the effect on individual farmers appears negligible. It is, even if the rural farmers could cope with acts of neglect, the economy as a whole would suffer by way of wide lead food shortages and growing food import bills.

However, the question now is, since neither the green solution technology of Asia, nor the capital intensive methods western agriculture have proved unviable in the different conditions prevailing in the country, what further strategy of food to production does the country, now adopt. This is very crucial as our experience has shown in the recent past that any strategies that alienate the local farmers from active anticipation will likely not be successful. This is important because the men and women on whom agricultural success will ultimately end, on. The farmers of Nigeria are not different from farmers where, give them the right technology, give them the incentives to them to acquire new skills, build up the agricultural port services and physical infrastructures of agriculture and farmers will so the job. Thus the only programme that would in any chance of success is that, which will functionally corporate the rural areas into the national space economy for the sake of achieving the general desire to increase food crop production.

The establishment of the River Basin Authorities is therefore welcomed changed, because its objectives indicated it’s pureness to attempt to functionally incorporate the rural as into the national space economy, the development of the basin Authorities of which Aambra River Basin and rural development (ARBRDA) is one, was the aftermath of an objective of the third and fourth National Development plans (I e 1975 – 1980 and 1985) that started that it is necessary to recognise that about 70% of the Nigerian population lives in the rural areas and have benefited very little from rapid economic growth of the past few years. The improvement of the welfare the average Nigerian will therefore require a substantial decrease in rural income.

The Anambra River Basin and rural Development Authority into being in October, 1984, before then, the river basin area was managed by the former Anambra –Imo River basin authority. The main focus of this research project therefore is to identify whether or not Anambra river Basin and Rural development Authorities has succeeded in stimulating food crop protection in its area of operation, through gradual in cooperation in the area into the nation’s space economy. The research hopes to achieve this by conducting in-depth analysis of the functions and activities of the authorities in the requirement of agricultural development and the provision of infrastructures.

THE PROBLEM: The problems to be identified are the carriers to the stimulation of increased food crop production through river Basin and rural Development Authority. The assumption here is that the ultimate purpose for their establishment is to encourage increased food crop production the rural areas in particular and the nation at large with hope that this will enhance higher income for the rural farmers directly engaged in food crop production.
THEORITICAL FRAMWORK: the theatrical framework of this search is the integrated rural development approach to agricultural development in Nigeria. The study focus on Anambra River Basin and rural Development Authority (ARBRDA) as an integrated rural development project. This involves the focusing development efforts on the transformation of rural areas. Is emphasis on rural area is justified by the fact that the majority of Nigerian population live in the rural area and that agricultural sector employs a larger number of people than in the other sectors put together, that is to say that without and rural improvement. Economic development. Economic development requires the growth and the modernization of both the rural and urban sectors. Therefore in a situation like Nigeria, sustained urban development depends on agricultural expansion.

The approach involves the development of infrastructures such as roads, health facilities, improving tools and technique production etc. in order to stimulate food crop production in the rural areas. The integrated rural development is based in the premise that a combination of factors- not only the right technology and education, but also access to physical inputs in attractive market is essentially to get agriculture moving a very nature of the process and the size of the problem of crop production or agricultural development in general enquires that action be taken simultaneously on several front. These necessary infrastructures required from agricultures required for agricultural development can be furnished only by a balanced combination institutional structures with physical equipment Mosher 1969:46). Therefore, this approach is integral in the sense that all of its components are important and appreciated or the part they play both individually and collectively. This important holistic and integrated approach to food crop production becomes more apparent when it is understand that the problem of food crop production is not one of technology alone but one essentially of people (Leagens 1974:7)

WORKING HYPOTHESES: the assumption here is to the Anambra River Basin development Authorities through its function of a government agency has:

Increased the supply of farm inputs such as fertilizers, needs/seedings and has undertaken the mechanized clearing and preparing of land for the production of food crops.
Improved rural infrastructural facilities, most especially, clean drinking water supply, access roads, electrification and water for irrigation purposes to local farmers.

1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY: the research is largely confined to the activities of Anambra River Basin and Rural Development Authority in lower Anmbra flood plain, specifically the project at omor in Uzoruwani local government area, however, reference might be made to some of her activities elsewhere, most especially in its area of operation and her other programmes within Anambra state. The study refers mainly to farmers who cultivates food crop such as rice and maize, this emphasis on these categories of farmers, is justified on the ground that presently, the authority encourages farmers in the area to grow the two crops above.

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: The research made use of two major sources of data and information collection techniques. These are the, primary and secondary sources. Samples were collected using the systematic sampling method. This involve the selection of farmers after every half of a kilometre. This is a fair coverage of the population in the sense that sample members are selected evenly from the area. It avoided the lumping that can often occur with random sampling, another merit of the chosen method is that no individual can be picked more than once. And lastly, simple arithmetical and statistical methods were used in the analysis of the data collected.

The primary sources involve, mainly;

THE USE OF QUESTIONNAIRES: This was administered to two hundred farmers in lower Anambra irrigation area/project (I e omor). One hundred and sixty-eight (168) of these were fully responded to and dully returned. A number of days was spent administering them. The questions were structured in such a way as to reveal the level of participation among local farmers in the agricultural programmes of the authority, moreover, it was designed to bring to bear, sources of money invested on farming, income level, farm inputs, in addition, it was structured to facilitate the identification of rural infrastructures provided by the authority and the services it renders to local farmers. Four hired assistants were used to gather the necessary information’s and for the administering of the questionnaires. Project manager, were separately interviewed. The aim here is to identify some salient factors that influence the function of the authority. Other primary sources of information gathering are; Newspapers, Journals and personal observation.

SECONDARY DATA: These were culled-out from the published work agriculture as well as published Reports of the River Basin authority.

PROBLEMS OF DATA COLLECTION: many problems were encountered the course of the research for instance, the respondents needed be convinced that information given will not be divulge to government officials, most especially tax enumerators, moreover, there was the problem of distribution and collection of questionnaire from the individual farmers. This problem arose because of the extensive nature of the survey area. Furthermore, because of a general low level of education among the farmers, a good number of them had to be assisted.

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