Traditional Agriculture

Abstract

Agriculture in Eastern Nigeria employs over seventy-five per cent of the working population, utilises a comparable percentage of the land surface of the region (although well over half of this is in bush or grass fallow: (Fig. 10.1)), and contributes-together with the processing of agricultural products — a significant share of the Gross Domestic Product (G.D.P.). Until the discovery and exploitation of oil, agricultural commodities made up some eighty per cent of the region’s commercial assets. Over fifty per cent of the region’s output still originates in the agricultural sector. Agriculture is therefore a major determinant of the geography of Eastern Nigeria and deserves our close attention in consequence.