TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
- Background
- Statement of Problem
- Objective of the Study
- Research Question
- Significance of the Study
- Scope of the Study
- Organization of the Study
- Definition of Concepts
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Concepts of Development
2.3 Liberal Perspective
2.4 Marxist Perspective
2.5 Sustainable Agricultural Development Models in Akwa Ibom State
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Area of the Study
3.3 Population of the Study
3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique
3.5 The Instrument for Data Collection
3.6 Data analysis Technique
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.1 Sample Population
4.2 Return of Questionnaire/Administration
4.3 Data Analysis
4.4 Discussion of Findings
CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Findings
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendation
References
Appendix
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
In the colonial Nigeria, agriculture occupied a centre stage in economic activities. At independence, in the decade of the 1960s, the sector continued to enjoy this status and was seen as the mainstay of the economy as the objective of the first development plan (1962 – 1968) showed, therefore, the contribution of the agricultural sector during this decade to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) range from 561%, 61.22%, 66.77% and 63.4% from 1960 – 1967 (Ayadi, 1998: 123). However, the contribution drastically declined in the 1970 because of the oil boom and negligence of the agricultural sector.
This resulted in rural-urban migration, shortage of agricultural manpower and stagnation of the sector. The oil money provided the needed finances for post-war reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation. Hence, government was not interested in the contribution of agriculture to GDP. Efforts of the three regions (reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation) were concentrated mostly on the urban centres leaving the rural area without facilities. Modern agricultural production requires basic facilities like good roads, electricity, water, telecommunication system, schools and hospitals. But the fact remains that real agricultural activities take place in the rural areas, not urban centres where facilities are concentrated. Rodan (2011:23) in his presentation of balance Growth Theory argues that “There is minimum levels of resources that must be devoted to agricultural development programmes for it have any chance of success”.
However, government failed to provide the necessary facilities that would have enhanced the growth of the sector. The rural urban drift, stagnation of the sector and huge import bills were the results. This was because agriculture as a profession did not offer the farming population what Maslow’s (1954) refers as to self-esteem and real actualization which were imaginary or real as other sector in the urban centre.
Dwindling oil price in the second half of the 1970’s forced the government to re-think on the direction of agricultural sector. The effort and purpose was to improve the sector to reclaim the lost pride in GDP and reduce the excessive reliance on petroleum. The effort ranged from direct production through establishment of state farms to play supportive role like provision of inputs, research and many other like the FADAMA III today. Now the Federal government is mainly concerned with planning while other activities are shifted to the states and local governments.