Discuss the role of agriculture inthe Nigerian economy by the 19th century with specific reference to commodity production?

Answer 1

IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE. Agriculture is a sector of economic activity that provides human beings with some of their basic needs. Its outputs are food and raw materials. Without the food products, life can easily be sustained; without the raw materials, the industrial sector of the economy cannot be fully developed. This is because the agricultural sector of the economy supplies most of the raw materials used by the industrial sector. In fact, the economy of several West African countries is chiefly sustained by agriculture. For instance, apart from Nigeria, whose economic mainstay its now its petroleum products, most of the west African countries depend on agriculture for their export trade. Agricultural products from 75% of their export commodities are their chief foreign exchange earner. We can formally define agriculture as the cultivation of the soil for food crops, and the breeding, feeding and management of livestock.

The term also covers fishing in the seas and rivers, breeding, and management and harvesting of fishponds. It may be extended to include the preparation of plant and animal products for use by human beings and animals, as well as the disposal of these through marketing. There are many economic activities under the broad term agriculture. The kind of agriculture practiced by a community or a country is influenced by many factors such as climate, soil, topography, and location of market, transportation and cost of land. Equipment, capital and technology are other factors that determine the agricultural pursuits of people.