Abstract

Author:

Rasaq Adekunle Olabomi, Jide Ogundola, Ajari Momohjimoh Yakubu, Abimbola G. Bola, Victor A Adetoro, Obinna W Nwubani

Doi: 10.26480/seps.02.2021.72.78

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

More than 50 percent of Nigerian total population resides in the rural areas with farming as their major occupation and means economic sustenance. Hence rural areas in Nigeria have the potentials to contribute significantly to the national socio-economic development through sustainable agriculture. However, unlike in the past when Nigerian agricultural sector used to be a strong sustainer of the economy through provision of food for the population and raw materials for the industries, general infrastructural deficit and neglect of the rural communities have diminished the attractiveness of agriculture, leaving it for the poor in the society. This is due, partly to the advent of crude oil in Nigeria and has led to poverty, hunger, malnutrition, and diseases in the rural communities. Nigerian government had however taken a number of measures towards agricultural development; these include River Basin Development Authority, HANCOR Borrowers, and a number of other initiatives. However, a larger percentage of the beneficiaries of these developmental efforts have always been in the urban and peri-urban centres, with minimum or no effect of the initiatives in the rural communities. This paper therefore review Nigerian agricultural development challenges and issues, and proposes rural economic development through sustainable agricultural infrastructure with focus on integrated approach involving the use of renewable energy, post-harvest processing, and agro-training program. This approach takes beneficiaries integration into consideration from design to execution of the programme, thereby ensuring their total commitment. This would improve agricultural productivity for immediate consumption and for industrial use, as well as prevent post-harvest waste, with improvement in the marketing systems of farm produces and rural farmers’ economy and living standards.