Reflections on Agricultural Development in Nigeria:... then, now, and what could be

Abstract

This paper adopts a historical time frame with Nigeria's independence from colonialism in 1960 as the fulcrum/pivot. Thus, 3 periods emerged: the colonial period of agricultural production and policy; independence and 50 years after; and the future, The periods past were critically appraised with perspective of finding anything in the past that could lead to better prognosis for the future, Agricultural production and supporting policies were scored high during the colonial era, as there were concrete evidences in the groundnut pyramids and buoyant Marketing Boards, Since independence, there has been no dearth of policies and though some were structurally unbalanced virtually all suffered from unsustained implementation along stated lines, For the future, the authors postulate that if sufficient and due attention were paid to research; rural women and followers empowered: sustained and sustainable policies implemented then Agricultural development along stated lines looks attainable and rosy.