Traditional Agricultural Practices and Development In Pre- and Post-Colonial Times In Gobir: Imperative for Modernization
Basheer Adamu Gobir
Ministry of Agriculture, Sokoto state, Sokoto, Nigeria.
Abstract
This paper
attempts a series review of traditional farming practices and developments
Gobir from pre-colonial times to the present, paying special attention to the
crops and production systems prevalent in each period and their theoretical
basis
The paper notes
that the Gobirawa migrated from the East, where they first settled in Egypt and
continued further migration southwards to Libya and arrived Azbin which is
their first major settlement. The most important farming system was shifting
cultivation and as they settled permanently in fixed communities, shifting
cultivation gave way to various degrees of permanent farming practices. For the
sake of brevity of analysis, the periods are divided into the following.
A.
pre-colonial period
B.
Colonial period, up to independence, in
1960
C.
Post-colonial period to present.
Recommendations
for future improvements in the system were also highlighted.
1.0
Introduction
1.1 Historical
accounts on the origin of Gobir and Gobirawa varied. one of the accepted
narration was that they migrated from Gubur (hence, the name Gobir) in the East
where they settled first in Egypt, later moved to Libya and Bilma and arrived at Azbin, or Bagazam,
from there to Agadez, then to Gwararrame, later to Toro, which was their last
point of stay in the Azbin Territory. From Toro, they migrated to Tahoua , then
to Keita and to Birnin Lalle where they stayed for the next 200
years.(Augie,2011; Maikassoua,2011; Tsiga,1985). They continued migrating
southwards to zaria where they founded Soba and further south to Ilorin where
they intermarried with Yorubas moving up to the north again, where they founded
their third city of Alkalawa.( Gobir, 1982)
1.2 Agricultural
development Theories Viewed in a historical context, the problem of
agricultural development is not that of transforming a static agricultural
sector into a modern dynamic sector, but of accelerating the rate of growth of
agricultural output and productivity consistent with the growth of other
sectors of a modernizing economy. Similarly, a theory of agricultural
development should provide insight into the dynamics of agricultural
growth-into the changing sources of growth-in economies ranging from those in
which output is growing at a rate of 1.0 percent or less to those in which
agricultural output is growing at an annual rate of 4.0 percent or more.
It seems possible to characterize the literature on agricultural development
into four general approaches: (a) the conservation; (b) the urban industrial
impact; (c) the diffusion; and (d) the high payoff input models.
1.3 The Conservation Model
The conservation model of agricultural development evolved from the advances in
crop and livestock husbandry associated with the English agricultural
revolutions and the concepts of soil exhaustion suggested by the early German
soil scientists. It was reinforced by the concept in the English classical
school of economics of diminishing returns to labor and capital applied to land
and labor.(Hayami and Ruttam,1972)
The conservation model emphasized the evolution of a sequence of increasingly
complex land- and labor-intensive cropping systems, the production and use of
organic manures, and labor-intensive capital formation in the form of physical
facilities to more effectively utilize land and water resources.
1.4 The Urban-Industrial Impact
Model
the conservation model stands in sharp contrast to models in which geographic
differences in the level and rate of economic development are primarily
associated with urban-industrial development. Initially, the urban-industrial
impact model was formulated (by von Thunen 1783-1850) to explain geographic
variations in the intensity of farming systems and in the productivity of labor
in an industrializing society((ibid)
. Later it was extended by T. W. Schultz
(1964, pp. 283-320) to explain the more effective performance of the factor and
product markets linking the agricultural and nonagricultural sectors in regions
characterized by rapid urban-industrial development.
1.5 The Diffusion Model
The diffusion of better husbandry practices was a major source of productivity
growth even in pre-modern societies. The diffusion approach to agricultural
development rests on the empirical observation of substantial differences in
land and labor productivity among farmers and regions.
The route to agricultural development, in
this view, is through more effective dissemination of technical knowledge and a
narrowing of the dispersion of productivity among farmers and among regions.
The diffusion model of agricultural development has provided the major
intellectual foundation for much of the research and extension effort in farm
management and production economics since the emergence, in the last half of
the nineteenth century, of agricultural economics as a separate sub discipline
linking the agricultural sciences and economics. The limitations of the
diffusion model as a foundation for the design of agricultural development
policies became increasingly apparent as technical assistance and community
development programs, based explicitly or implicitly on the diffusion model, failed
to generate either rapid modernization of traditional farms or rapid growth in
agricultural output.(ibid)
1.6 The High Payoff Input Model
The inadequacy of policies based on the conservation, urban-industrial impact,
and diffusion models led, in the 1960s, to a new perspective that the key to
transforming a traditional agricultural sector into a productive source of
economic growth is investment designed
to make modern high payoff inputs
available to farmers in poor countries. Peasants, in traditional agricultural
systems, were viewed as rational and efficient resource allocators. They
remained poor because, in most poor countries, there were only limited
technical and economic opportunities to which they could respond. The new, high
payoff inputs, as identified by Schultz (1964), can be classified into three
categories: (a) the capacity of and private sector research institutions to
produce new technical knowledge; (b) the capacity of the industrial sector to
develop, produce, and market new technical inputs; and (c) the capacity of
farmers to acquire new knowledge and use new inputs effectively.
1.7 Alternative Paths of
Technological Development
There is clear evidence that technology can be developed to facilitate the
substitution of relatively abundant (hence cheap) factors for relatively scarce
(hence expensive) factors in the economy. t seems reasonable, following to call techniques designed to facilitate the
substitution of other inputs for labor, "labor-saving," and those
designed to facilitate the substitution of other inputs for land,
"land-saving." In agriculture,
two kinds of technology generally correspond to this taxonomy: mechanical
technology to "labor-saving" and biological and chemical technology
to "land-saving." The former is designed to facilitate the
substitution of power and machinery for labor. Typically this involves the
substitution of land for labor, because higher output per worker through
mechanization usually requires a larger land area cultivated per worker.
The latter, which we will hereafter identify as biological technology, is
designed to facilitate the substitution of labor and/or industrial inputs for
land.
This
may occur through increased recycling of soil fertility by more labor-intensive
conservation systems; through use of chemical fertilizers; and through
husbandry practices, management systems, and inputs (i.e., insecticides) which
permit an optimum yield response.
Historically there has been a close association between advances in output per
unit of land area and advances in biological technology; and between advances
in output per worker and advances in mechanical technology. These historical
differences have given rise to the cross-sectional differences in productivity
and factor use.
For a
detailed discussion on these and other theories of agricultural development,
see Vernon and Rutam, 1972; Roussamet, 2006.
1.8 Gobirawas in the pre-colonial time were
largely warriors and migratory, conquering many territories and advancing
further from their traditional areas as documented by other papers, such as
Y.A. Gobir and Bunza, A.M
After each
conquest, a new settlement was established or the old ones annexed and new
rulers chosen by the victorious side appointed. The people were then allowed to
practice their age- long occupation unhindered.
Their predominant
occupations from the time they left Egypt around 1000AD, were hunting and
gathering, agriculture, mining, simple manufacturing or handicraft, with
agriculture being the predominant occupation of the people as noted by
Maikassoua(,2011)
Erik Green
(undated) noted that the farmers in those days faced two major challenges: a
hostile environment and scarcity of labour. In many areas conquered or settled
in by the Gobirawas, the conditions for agricultural production were
unfavourable in terms of climate and weather, challenges of insecurity and
inter-tribal wars, while the challenge of labour arises as a result of
demography and labour intensive nature of production systems.
The settled
Gobirawas in the major settlements of Alkalawa, Birnin Lalle, Azbin and others,
have variously adapted themselves to these labour challenges in a variety of
ways that are not only flexible but highly productive, these include, but not
limited to the Gayya system. (Abubakr Bango. Personal communication)
Faced with the limited labour and technology, the subsistence production
flourished, conditioned further by the inclement weather, constant fear of
attack and limited scope for expansion of production. The Gobir people in these
settlements, were thus to a large extent at the mercy of labour and weather as
small changes in these would have serious negative consequences on food
security.
1,9 Methodology
The bulk of the
material for this paper came from secondary sources, especially on the narrations
pertaining to the earlier part of the reference period. While information on
the recent developments was obtained through participant observation by the
author, being an agricultural economist.
This paper
attempts a time series description of
agricultural practices in Gobir from pre-colonial times to the present,
paying special attention to the crops and production systems prevalent in each
period. For the sake of brevity of analysis, the periods are divided into the
following.
A.
Re-colonial period;
B.
Colonial period, up to independence, in
1960; and,
C.
Post-colonial period to present.
2.0 Pre-Colonial
Period
The pre-colonial
period reviewed here begins from 1000 AD and extended to 1800AD. The
agricultural production environment during this period, was characterized by
the relative abundance of land as a result of people and settlements being
widely dispersed but labour was scarce. Conflicts over land seldom arise
between Gobirawa and their neighbours, where such conflicts arose, they were
largely for territorial expansion, (Achi,1985) hence, pastoralists moved freely
in search of grazing lands. With the abundant land, shifting cultivation was
the norm as land improvements in terms of fertilization were not common. As
soon as fertility of land declined, it was abandoned and a virgin land is
chosen and opened up and allowing the latter to revert to bush to be cultivated
again after long years of fallow. This suited the high mobility of Gobirawa
during this period. According to Ruthemberg, (1971 ) who described farming
systems in pre-colonial africa:
‘SHIFTING cultivation is the
name we use for agricultural systems that involve an alternation between
cropping for a few years on selected and cleared plots and a lengthy period
when the soil abandoned and rested. Cultivation consequently shifts within an
area that is otherwise covered by natural
vegetation. The intensity of shifting cultivation varies widely.
In those days, labour is the most important factor of production and
institutions like family, kinship system and slavery played very crucial roles
in the production process. This can be seen in the prevalence of communal
practices like GAYYA and GANDU,
Augi (1984)
described the landholdings towards the end of this period as follows:
‘….the land immediately surrounding
major settlements had not only came under permanent cultivation, but had also
been permanently shared among the various patrilineages. The portion of land of
each patrilineage formed its GANDU which
all the members of the group shared and worked together under their head; THE MAIGIDA. The plots of each
patrilineage were clearly demarcated from the others using permanent grasses
such as particularly Jema and Gamba.
Associated with the Gandu of the patrilineages but outside it, there emerged another
form of landholding the Kurga or Gamana, this is the plot usually
allocated by the Maigida to a member of the patrilineage to work on his
own. Besides this, the Sarakuna also owned large estates of land called
the Gandayen Sarauta (royal farms) which were attached to the
various offices in the region, such as the institution of Sarki (chief
or paramount ruler)…….’
The remnants of this can still be observed in
some communities like Gidan Roumdji and Madawa in Niger Republic, but in
general had almost disappeared.
2.1 On weather front, soil fertility, animal
diseases, crop pests and diseases, low and erratic rainfall have collectively
conspired to keep the production low. For example, even with the recent
technological advances,the yirlds of millet and sorgum is still between 0.6-1.0
tonnes per hectare,(NAERLS,2010) This explains why the major settlements sprung up around the highly productive
alluvial plains of the Rivers Rima, Ka, Bunsuru, Gagare, Zamfara and Lamindo to
mention but a few. Some of these settlements include, Maradi,Madawa, Yar
Bulutu, Birnin Lalle. etc.
The second
limiting factor here include pests and diseases which largely determine or
restrict the type of crops to grown and animals reared. In those days, sleeping
sickness, (Trypanosomiasis), and rinderpest constrained animal production and
rearing in the southern parts of the Gobir kingdom, but the greater parts of
the area were tse- tse free and animal husbandry of extensive/semi-intensive
variety prevailed alongside with some form of transhumance and pastoralism.
Apart from these challenges, wars, robberies and intra-clan conflicts also
contributed to the decimation of the livestock herds in the area, while locust
swarms frequently devastate large acreages of land.
According to the
preamble of Niger's Locust Risk
Management Plan, during a massive locust invasion swarms
of desert locusts may invade “an area of 29 million square kilometres where
1.3bn people live, stretching from Africa's Atlantic coast in the northern
hemisphere to the Indo-Pakistani border, and from the Mediterranean to the
Equator”.(ScDev.net,2017)
Because of the
synergy between crop production and animal husbandry, (livestock droppings
provide manure which fertilized the fields) as will be shown later, diseases and
conflicts were the main threats to agro-pastoralism in the area.
2.2 Geographically, Gobir lands were mostly
in the savannah region, with some patches of deserts. The lands are generally
of low fertility, but the environment less hostile as noted earlier,with low
prevalence of tse -tse , for example,
settlements around Tibiri, Gidan Roumdji and Birnin Lalle in Niger Republic and
this created a favourable condition for the flourishing of agro-pastoralism in
the area.
The principal
crops grown in this era include millet and sorghum with some cultivation of
vegetables and cowpeas and lowland rice restricted to river valleys and flood
plains. Millet is the predominant crop because of the extensive dry areas
occupied by Gobir settlements. The population density was very low, except
around lake areas and river valleys. Thus as noted earlier, the main bottleneck
is labour, the supply of which is being constantly threatened by epidemic
diseases such as malaria, small pox, chicken pox measles etc. Here, women form
substantial part of labour force, the division of labour is in such a way that
in a typical farming family, men do heavy works such as land clearing, taking
care of animals and harvesting millet, while the women do the remaining tasks.
With all these roles the women played, they had less access to land than men.
3.0 Drivers of Change During the Period
Like the rest of
the Hausa land, the dynamics of change in agriculture during the period were
largely driven by two factors, these are:
·
Adaptability to changing circumstances,
and
·
Resilience to recurring crises.
These factors gave
birth to special production, mining,(for instance, potash and salt around
Bilma) and trading centers ,like with the types of goods produced and traded
changing with time, Alkalawa, as most
city-states of Hausa land were great centres of trade and commerce. Gobir is
not left behind in these, for example, millet production is concentrated in the
drier parts, like Birnin Lalle and Maradi while sorghum in the wetter part as
in Alkalawa and old City of Sabon Birni. With specialization, trade was
expanded between these cities and other cities along the Trans Sahara Caravan
Trade route to as far as Kano, notably in gold, slave’s armaments (slings,
bows, javelins, catapults, throwing spears, clubs, lances, swords and war
bracelets.) and cotton.(Achi, 1982)
4.0 Colonial Period
As a result of the
policy of indirect rule during the colonial period, most of what existed in the
pre-colonial period prevailed, but with a few dramatic changes, some of which
are:
4.1 Intensification
Of Production
This came about as a result of reduction
of inter-tribal wars and, colonial conquest. People begun to settle permanently
in fixed settlements, though Gobirawa people continued incursion into other
(through migration and intermarriages) land peacefully. Land availability soon
became a challenge, shifting cultivation became a luxury and close-settled
zones emerged. This spurred the increases in population growth and
urbanization, for example around Alkalawa, which further worsened the land
crisis. Farms became smaller and fragmented, shifting cultivation became less
attractive and in its place, the following farming systems evolved:
4.1.1
Semi-permanent farming
Usually
characterized by clearly defined holdings with largely permanent field
divisions. Quasi-stationary housing predominates, since the changing of hut
sites was a matter of moving short distances only. Families generally have defacto
or registered ownership of the land.
In contrast with most shifting systems, in which the holding boundaries are not
usually clearly defined, housing is more or less of a migratory nature, and
land rights are even less precisely defined. In general terms, a reduction of
the fallow period causes a reduction of the yields per hectare, unless there is
fertilizer application or manuring, which is normally not the case in these
systems.(Ruthemberg, ibid)
Semi-permanent
cultivation was also practiced on high-fertility soils, especially on alluvial
and colluvial soils in river valleys of Maradi, Kurawa and at the more fertile
bases of slopes, i.e. where the motive for fallowing is less the regeneration
of soil fertility than the suppression of weed growth.
4.1.2 Unregulated
ley systems in the drier savannas. Occur as semi-permanent systems
cultivation spreads at the expense of fallows, forest or bush vegetation gives
way to a cultivation steppe with large areas dotted with patches of
bush. In Africa this process is causing the tsetse fly to be displaced, so that
cattle can be kept, and the grass fallows and harvest residues can be used as
fodder. The concentration of cattle dung in the places where the animals spend
the night provides the beginnings of an organized folding system. Fallow
systems of this nature may be considered as a stage in the transition to ley
farming proper and are therefore called unregulated ley farming.
The groundnut-millet holdings in all Gobir settlements like Alkalawa, Tibiri,
Maradi and others, may be form of unregulated ley farming.
The main features of these holdings are as follows:
(1) Permanent patches of fruit trees and perennial crops like mango,
Tamarind ,shea butter, and baobab found
in the immediate vicinity of the hut, which is either no longer shifted or is
moved only a short distance at long intervals.
(2) Near the huts or villages, what is called the dung-land is mostly
cultivated. It is used for crops that require more fertile soils,
(3)
Adjoining this we find semi-permanently used fields in concentric circles of
varying size. These fields were used for growing the staple food and cash
crops. The fallow mostly used as pasture.
(4) The intensity of the crop cycle decreases proportionately to the distance
from the farmstead. Between the cropping years the ground is left fallow for
long periods; in other words, shifting cultivation is practiced.
(5) Trees are often found scattered over the area: fruit trees (e.g. mangoes),
fodder trees (e.g. Faidherbia albida), or sisal hedges.
(6) The fallow and communal pasture are grazed by cattle, sheep, and goats.
(9) Livestock-rearing in a stationary homestead is supplemented here and
there by a certain amount of nomadic herding: some of the herds belonging to
the cultivators graze on remote grazing areas watched over by herdsmen. (Ruthemberg, 1970)
4.2
The only option available in this
circumstance was the adoption of yield enhancing factors, like fertilizers
4.2.1
Characteristics of animal
husbandry
whereas shifting cultivation is largely practiced with little or no livestock,
in semi-permanent systems we often find large stocks of cattle. In extended
areas of the African savannas, it is the interaction of arable cropping and
cattle-keeping that keeps the tsetse fly
at bay. Slash and burn agriculture thins out the forest or bush
vegetation and destroys the breeding grounds of the tsetse fly; intensive
grazing prevents bush regeneration and therefore prevents the insect from
re-establishing itself.
4.2.2
The aims of stock-keeping are varied:
(1) Cattle are kept to cover the risk of harvest failure or sickness.
When land is not privately owned, cattle are kept as a means of support in old
age.
(2) In close relation to this there are social functions. Cattle act as bride
price, while a large herd is a status symbol.
(3) Farmers want a supply of meat and milk for the household;
(4) A factor of increasing importance is the provision of the traction power
for ox-plough cultivation.
(5) Only in a few
cases do semi-permanent cultivators consider the contribution of manure as an
essential purpose of stock-keeping, although it might be of considerable
relevance to their farming.
Harvest residues, fallow grazing, and natural grazing provide the fodder.
Communal use of grazing land is customary: everybody has the right to allow any
number of animals to graze on the fallows, pastures, and stubbles.
Fodder cropping is practically non-existent. Occasionally, balanced feeding is
achieved by seasonally moving the livestock to grazing areas some
distance away, which have not been used earlier in the season.
The composition of the livestock herds depends above all on the availability of
fodder. Where there is good grassland with sufficient watering places, the
number of cattle per family is high, and a high proportion of the stock
consists of male animals. With increasing shortage of grazing and higher cattle
densities, primarily female stock is kept, the male calves being slaughtered
soon after birth. Where fodder is not sufficient to keep large herds in one
place, the lending out of cattle is common.this predominated in all the major
settlements of Gobir earlier mentioned in this paper.
Improved seeds, introduction of more crop
varieties like rice and maize, development of irrigation, especially using the
Shadoof system in the river valleys etc.
4.2.3
Permanent
cultivation systems a continual expansion of arable
farming at the expense of the fallow or ley into system transforms
semi-permanent and ley systems of cultivation. This class includes those
farming systems in which fallows leys are only rarely, and for a short term,
interpolated between the cultivation of arable crops, with the result that the R
value exceeds 70.
4.2.4
In contrast with fallow or ley
systems, farming systems of this kind are normally characterized by
(1) A
permanent division within the holding between arable land and grassland, which
is seldom or never cultivated;
(2)
Clearly demarcated fields; and
(3)
A predominance of annual and biannual crops.
Often, permanently cultivated rain-fed plots are a supplementary activity or
devoted to irrigation farming in holdings that are predominantly tree crops. In
particular, the growing of wet rice in valley bottoms in plots often combined
with the cultivation of permanently cropped rain-fed slopes.
(4) Irrigation farming is spreading; in particular, irrigated rice.
(5) The planting of perennial crops, in particular of tree crops, is
increasing. By this means,
arable farming, which is 'alien' to nature in the tropics, is replaced by crops
whose effect on the soil is similar to that of forest or bush vegetation.
Of special interest is the development of the fertilizer economy in permanent
rain-fed farming. The primary task i's the replacement of nutrients and organic
matter. From 'the standpoint of the evolution of farming systems, a number of
stages may be distinguished:
(1) Manuring begins as a rule with the collection and transport of household
refuse.
(2) Next comes the application of animal manure, which is sometimes increased
by stabling and the provision of bedding.
(3) Cultivation of green-manure crops is an indication of a more advanced
fertilizer economy.
(4) Processing of household refuse, harvest residues, and farmstead earth in
compost is characteristic of a higher level of intensity.
(1) Areas outside the holding are grazed, and manure
collects in
the farmyard, mainly at night. In this way nutrients are concentrated on the
permanently cropped land.
(2) Nutrients are imported from uncultivated bushes in fuel. The search for
fuel has stripped extensive bush or forest land near densely populated areas
(needles, leaves, twigs). The ashes serve as fertilizer, either directly or as
a component of compost.
(3) An indication of a special lack of nutrients is the collection of leaves
and branches as green manure, which is applied directly to the land
5
Sedentarization
livestock
production moved from being highly extensive to semi-intensive, necessitating
the demarcation of stock routes and grazing reserves by colonial governments through
Native Authorities to minimize farmers/herdsmen clashes which arose as a result
of scarcity of grazing lands and encroachment of farms by the
livestock/herdsmen. These herdsmen were of two types, the settled and nomadic
ones, the settled ones gather livestock from the community/village and moved
them to the grazing lands from mornings and return them to the communities in
the evenings. They were paid in both cash and kind, the system is almost waning
now. The other variant is the nomadic herdsmen who are either owners or part
owners of the stock they tended. They move from one community to another in
search of grazing areas and fodder especially in the dry season after harvest,
where they enter into contract agreement with local farmers to settle and
incorporate animal droppings on their farms in exchange for a fee/grains, and
moving to another location as the need arises.
6
Provision
of organized extension and modern inputs started during
this period albeit, on a small scale, the farmers were pressurized and given
incentives to adopt. Farm Training Centres and Farm Institutes were established
at Shinkafi . Commodity Boards, notably cotton and groundnuts, provided free
seeds and extension services resulting into an unprecedented increase in the
production of these cropsin Shinkafi, Isa, Sabon Birni, and others across Gobir
and Zamfara. In areas occupied by French, like Maradi, similar developments
were observed but on a more rigorous and sustainable scale.
6 POST-COLONIAL
ERA TO DATE
The
period saw greater intensification of production and land use as a result of
rapid population growth and urbanization, land and labour continued to be
limiting constraints followed later by fertilizer and other inputs that were
hitherto supplied free but which now had to be paid for. More crops were
introduced and new varieties of the existing ones popularized like FARO 44 rice
and with the improved availability of seeds, fertilizers and mechanization,
some crops that were hitherto marginal in the area became major crops. Such
crops include, FARO 44 rice, wheat, tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, cashew,
mango, and more recently, water melon.
In
particular the creation of regional governments and later state governments
opened up newer possibilities and reforms some of which include:
A
farmer credit scheme was established with its activities covering the entire
Sokoto state in 1975;
At the
same time, Gusau Agricultural Development Project was Launched at Gusau with
its activities include establishment of a network of Farm Service Centres
delivering seeds, fertilizer and limited tractor hiring services in 1981, it
was transformed into Sokoto Agricultural Development Project with wider mandate
including but not limited to animal traction, fadama development, cooperative
development, a commercial arm known as FASCO, or farmers Agricultural Supply
Company, seed production and distribution, among others.
Construction
of the giant Goronyo Dam and irrigation complex at Goronyo which gave Irrigation development a boost,
and is opening new frontiers in agricultural production in the area too, with
the adoption of portable irrigation pumps, the labour intensive Shadoof system
has been phased out.
Similarly,
fish and poultry farms, ranches and host of other developments alongside with
improved processing, storage and marketing has transformed the area into
agricultural mecca of sorts at a rate that’s unprecedented in the annals of
agriculture in the area where most of the Gobir people reside, Isa,Sabon Birni,
Goronyo, Gada, Gwadabawa, Illela Local Government areas.
More
recent development also include the establishment of a college of agriculture
at Wurno,
Many
young men are now embracing modern farming at keast in the production of rice,
onion, garlic, watermelon and wheat though support from the state and federal
governments especially Growth Enhacement Support and Anchor Borrowers
Scheme.(SOSG,2018)
7. IMPERATIVE
FOR MODERNIZATION
The
developments in the practice of farming and agriculture in Gobir roughly
skrtched above, though not exhaustive, point to the fact that agriculture in
the area has evolved from labour intensive subsistence to land and labour
intensive with prospects for commercialization and modernization.
Towards
this end the following need to be focused upon:-
Ø Reducing
drudgery by increasing the scope of mechanization
Ø Adoption
of improved varieties of crops
Ø Improved
access to credit and finance
Ø Improved
management of agricultural co-operatives
Ø Improved
access to seeds, fertilizers and irrigation technology
Ø Improved
extension services, marketing processing and storage facilities
Ø Improved
methods of animal husbandry, aquaculture and agroforestry.
Ø Provision
of rural physical and social infrastructure.
With commitment, right leadership, political will,
receptive population and efficient management, these are achievable in no
distant future.
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1.
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Augie, A.R. (2011) “Migrations of
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