Adversity and transformation: the Nigerian light at the end of the tunnel

bibliographic database
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Book chapter

Title:	Adversity and transformation: the Nigerian light at the end of the tunnel
Author:	Cohen, R.
Book title:	Satisfying Africa's Food Needs: Food Production and Commercialization in African Agriculture
Year:	1988
Pages:	209-237
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	agricultural development food policy agricultural policy
Abstract:	Arguing that there is every indication that Nigeria's food supply problem is on the way to being solved, this paper examines relevant aspects of Nigeria's macrolevel food policies and then summarizes and discusses the food programmes that have been put into place in Borno State. These include development efforts directed at smallholders, large commercial farms, and irrigated State-run holdings for former rain-fed smallholders. An important finding is the generalization that smallholders alone may not hold the solution to per capita food deficits. By investing in a broad-scale mix of food-production development policies, including the banning of cheap imports, Nigeria has hit upon a formula that works: support a wide variety of projects and programmes designed to help rural peoples, and develop commercial food production for the home market under protected conditions, while agriculture itself undergoes a transformation in both organizational and technological terms. Bibliogr., notes, ref.