News Headline
Nigeria: Building a Viable Economy Through Agriculture
Source
allAfrica.com
Publication Date
2014-08-22
Agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigeria economy, before Nigeria joined the league of oil producing nations in 1958. Before this date, the agricultural sector was a major employer of labor in Nigeria, with groundnut, cocoa, cotton, rubber and palm oil the main cash crops produced. And from the Western region cocoa revenue, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was able to implement his free education policy throughout the Western region. Then, agriculture constitutes to about 75 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Also, Nigeria was a major exporter of agricultural commodities and earned most of its foreign exchange from agricultural produce.