EFFECTS OF CHANGES IN COCOA PRODUCTION ON FARMERS LIVELIHOOD IN EMURE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, EKITI STATE NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Background to the Study
Nigeria is one of the countries in Africa that has highly diversified agro-ecological conditions, which makes the production of a wide range of agricultural products possible. Agriculture is a potentially viable sector of the country‟s economy, particularly in terms of its employment generation as well as its contribution to Nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through export. The contribution of agriculture to the overall economic growth has declined from 70 per cent at independence to about 25 per cent in the mid-1970s (the oil boom period). In spite of this sharp decline, agricultural sector accounts for about 80 per cent of the active labour force (Central Bank of Nigeria, 2007). Abayomi (2006) noted that agriculture is capable of increasing not only per capita income; reduce spatial inequalities between rural and urban areas, but also to reduce the unprecedented mobility of rural-urban migration.
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) is a major economic tree crop in Nigeria because it provides jobs and income to the farmers, raw materials for the industry and foreign exchange for the country. Between 1950 and 1960, cocoa was the highest source of foreign exchange in the country (Oyedele, 2007). The discovery of oil in 1970, coupled with other socio-economic factors such as Household size, Farm size, management system and input cost, led to the relegation of cocoa to the second position in terms of foreign exchange earnings for the country. Since then, oil sector is the pivot of Nigerian economy with attendant poverty, unemployment and weak industrial base particularly in the agriculture sector. Economic diversification is a panacea to the socio-economic problems in Nigeria. In order to diversify the Nigerian economy, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) decided to rejuvenate cocoa industry with emphasis on increased production among other things. As a result, some interventions were introduced into cocoa industry with the aim of meeting the needs of the expanding industrial sector, increasing foreign exchange, enhancing job creation and farmers‟ income (FGN, 2006).
Nigeria is an important player in the cocoa sector and as such, the Nigeria output has effects on the international aggregate output and price level. Cocoa production in Nigeria is done in the South West of the country especially in Ondo state and some are seen in the South -South zone especially in Akwa-Ibom state.
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EFFECTS OF CHANGES IN COCOA PRODUCTION ON FARMERS LIVELIHOOD IN EMURE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, EKITI STATE NIGERIA
