Agriculture has been the mainstay of any West African country, especially Nigeria and Ghana. To be very frank, farming is not just about food production; They include animal husbandry, forestry, botany, horticulture, etc. The agricultural sector was for a long time the main economic backbone of most West African countries, specifically Nigeria before the discovery of the so-called liquid gold (crude oil).
It is axiomatic that humans and animals cannot live without food, clothing and shelter. We will see here discussing how agriculture helped provide a panacea for these people. In this regard, the right thing to do is to define what cultivation means in a way that the common man can understand. It is defined as the art and science of producing crops and raising animals for human use. Some of its branches that I mentioned earlier. The truth is, the effects of agriculture on West Africa, cannot be overemphasized to be very blunt. The sector provides employment opportunities to people in many different ways. improves their standard of living; availability of raw materials for industries, especially manufacturing industries; Providing shelter and clothing. Agriculture is also a vital source of foreign exchange.
One thing that puzzles me is that most West African countries especially Nigeria who pride themselves on being one of the agricultural giants of the world are now enjoying the euphoria of the past. I will describe the discovery of oil in Nigeria as a curse to agriculture. Farming practices were on the lowest islands; We no longer realize that it is even the cornerstone of our technological progress after today. Nigeria, for example, is blindfolded by its oil wealth. We depend so much on oil that we can’t even explore potential areas. It is this over-reliance on oil that creates major problems in Nigeria today.
The truth is that any nation interested in development must be prepared to take agriculture seriously. This is because he is the initiator such a nation needs to emerge in future developments. I will hereby advise the Nigerian government to take its steps back and give appropriate priorities to agriculture. As you can see, Nigeria has a lot of untapped potential in terms of natural resources. We have a vast area of land in the northern part of the country and dense rain forests in the south. These are natural resources that the country can harness to achieve better results. With all these suggestions in mind, I believe the country can be able to diversify and maximize its potential towards greater developments and a better life for the citizens.