The agricultural history of Nigeria is intertwined
with its political history. This is discussed broadly in
the context of the varying constitutional frame works, viz: Colonial, the Internal Self Government and the Post-1960 periods, according to sectors.
Crop Production: The period of the colonial
administration in Nigeria, 1861-1960, was punctuat ed by rather ad hoc attention to agricultural devel opment. During the era, considerable emphasis was placed on research and extension services.
The first notable activity of the era was the
establishment of a botanical research station in
Lagos by Sir Claude Mcdonald in 1893. This was
followed by the acquisition of 10.4 kms of land in
1899 by the British Cotton Growing Association
(BCGA) for experimental work on cotton and
named the experimental area Moor Plantation in
lbadan. In 1912, a Department of Agriculture was established in each of the then Southern and Northern Nigeria, but the activities of the
Department were virtually suspended between
1913 and 1921 as a result of the First World War
and its aftermath.
From the early 1920s to the mid 1930s, there was a resurgence of activities and this
period has been called the "Faulkner Strip Layout"
era in honour of the Director of Agriculture, Mr. 0.T.
Faulkner, who devised a statistical design for exper imental trials in green manuring, fertiliser projects,
rotational cropping systems and livestock feeding.
From the late 1930s to the mid-1940s, there
were significant intensification and expansion of
research activities, and extension and training pro grammes of the Agricultural Departments.
Additional facilities for training of junior staff in agri culture were provided, as well as scholarships for
agricultural students in Yaba Higher College and
Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad.
The intensification of hostilities during the
Second World War (1939-45) led to the slowing
down of activities and the call to Departments of
Agriculture to play increasing roles in the production
of food for the army and civilians in the country and
Production of export crops like palm
products and rubber which could not be obtained
from Malaysia as a result of Japanese war activities
in South-East Asia, and such food items as sugar,
wheat, milk, eggs, vegetables, Irish potatoes and
rice whose importation was prevented by naval
blockade of the high seas increased. A special pro duction section of the Department of Agriculture
was set up to deal with the situation. On the
research side, attention was devoted largely to the
possibilities of evolving permanent systems of agri culture that were capable of replacing rotational
bush-fallowing systems prevalent in the country and
realising the promises of mixed farming in the north.
During this period, the WAIFOR (West African
Institute for Oil Palm Research) in Benin was start ed and the research on cocoa was intensified at
Moor Plantation, Owena near Ondo and at
Onigambari near lbadan.
Achievements of the period include the devel opment of "Alien Cotton" in the south; rice cultiva tion in the Sokoto, Niger, llorin, Abeokuta Colony
and Ondo provinces; the introduction of wheat cul tivation in the more northern parts of the northern
provinces; the expansion of production of such
export crops as cocoa, oil palm and groundnut;
development of agricultural implements as well as
designing farm buildings; intensification of horticul tural activities; the development of a marketing sec tion of the Department; the extension of the
Produce Inspection Service to cover all principal
export crops; investigations into the possibilities for
organised land settlement schemes; and investiga tions into the possibilities of irrigation in northern
The period of Internal Self Government, 1951 60. beoan with the reaionalisation of theDepartments of Agriculture in 1951, with a Director
and an Inspector-General of Agriculture in each
region. By October 1954, the post of Inspector General of Agriculture was abolished as a result of
constitutional developments which led to independ ence of the Regional Departments. The Federal
Department of Agricultural Research was retained
since constitutional provisions placed agricultural
research on the concurrent legislative list, while
extension work remained a regional responsibility.
The research findings of the Federal Research
Stations were to be transmitted through Regional
ministries responsible tor agriculture and natural
There was also the setting up, in 1955, of a
Technical Committee of the Council of Natural
Resources made up of Federal and Regional
Ministers and officials for the formulation of nation al research programmes as well as the co-ordina tion of Federal and Regional research activities.
Regionalization of agriculture created a great
awareness of the need for intensification of activi ties in both the research and extension fields. This
led the Regions to expand, considerably, their
research and extension activities in agriculture.
The post-1960 was one of extensive planning
and regional competition in agriculture.
Concentration of attention on commodity exports,
the utilisation of taxation policy by the Marketing
Boards as an instrument of development finance,
and the belief that food production activities could
take care of themselves without any governmental
intervention, became the official farm policy. Under
regional independence, the agricultural history of
the nation entered a new phase of modification of
traditional practices, in view of the incapacity of
food production to meet the needs of the rising
population and the inability of producers to reinvest
These maladies were worsened by the
inability of the then Federal Government to play a
leading role in the nation's agricultural modernisa tion.
Before the middle of the 1960s, a Federal
Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources was
set up, and a phase of consolidation and co-ordina tion of projects for agricultural development began.
In 1966, Federal initiative and control of the nation's
agriculture were set in motion. This step in the right
direction became more manifest with the creation,
in 1967, of 12 States and the increased efforts to
evolve a co-ordinated perspective for agricultural
development in Nigeria.
Livestock: Livestock production in Nigeria was
dominated by nomadic pastoralism long before the
advent of the British Colonial Administration. The
immediate interest of the colonial government in
livestock was with the health and hygiene of the
domesticated cattle. Thus, the Nigerian Veterinary
Department was established in 1914 with its head quarters at Zaria.
In 1924, a small veterinary laboratory was
established in Vom for the production of rinderpest
serum. Increased field services raised the
demands on the laboratory hence the production of
vaccines and other biological products was added
to the functions of the laboratory. The recognition of
the advantages of Vom as the centre for veterinary
research and for vaccine production, coupled with
the major emphasis on the health aspects of live stock production, led to the transfer of the head quarters of the Nigerian Veterinary Department
from Zaria to Vom.
In October 1927, proposals for the establish ment of a Stock Farm were made to the
Government. The stated objective was "to turn out,
by purely selective breeding, male stock for use as
stud by native stock owners." It was proposed that
three breeds, namely, the White Fulani, Gudali and
Shuwa represented by a dairy herd of about 20
heads each be stocked at Shika. By 1934, it was
fairly certain that either sweet potatoes or cassava
could be fed to the cattle, as sources of energy.
At about that time too, it was realised that
there ie a heavy and growing export of cat tle of the hoof from the North, and the
intensity of this demand naturally fluctu ates with the price of southern produce.
Thus with price ruling high for palm oil in
the South and low for cotton in the North,
a prospective farmer is subjected to varia tions in his costs and returns.
Such variations urged the planners to introduce
the "Mixed Farming Policy." The policy was typified
by the importation of six pullets and one cockerel of
the Rhode Island Red breed from England in 1933
toAgege where crops like maize, cassava, yam, oil pairn, kola, coffee, pineapple and citrus fruits were
The role of educational advancement in agricul tural development in Nigeria was given prominence
at an earlier stage. The value of an elementary
education in the three Regions to farmers was
appreciated and it was suggested that the introduc tion of a new interest into farming, such as the pro duction of livestock in the Southern Provinces of
Nigeria, would attract more educated youths into
agriculture. A scheme was started in Katsina Province for
teaching sons of farmers the best husbandry meth ods. Instructions were essentially practical in
nature and were centred on mixed farming.
Similarly, the study of management of livestock was
introduced to the lbadan Agricultural School where
the Education and Agricultural Departments co operated to train both teachers responsible for the
management of school farms and the agricultural
assistants for the Department of Agriculture.
By 1938, three Conferences of West African
Aaricultural Officers had been held. Besides, the numerous attempts made between 1924 and 1938
to introduce fodder and browse plants into Nigeria
(especially at the Veterinary Station, Vom, the
Agricultural Station at Samaru and at the Stock
Centre at Shika) were reviewed. The need for con certed effort at pasture and grassland management
and improvement was adequately documented and
a call for more co-operation between the livestock
farmers and the traditional agriculturists was made.
This was the beginning of organised efforts towards
range management for livestock improvement in
In 1940, milk-buying units were established in
areas of the Jos Plateau and butter was produced
on commercial scale. The production of cheese
and bacon was undertaken shortly after and this
became intensified during the Second World War.
After the War, livestock produce assumed consider able importance, while in 1948 the operations were
taken over by the Department of Commerce and
A Veterinary School was established at
Vom in the early 1940s to train Nigerians for animal
health work. A Livestock Investigation Centre (LIC)
was also set up as auxiliary to the school and labo ratory. Later, an Egg Production Unit was created
to supply fertile eggs for virus research, vaccine for
both the Veterinary and the Medical Departments
and Poultry for research work and vaccine testing.
The Nigerian Veterinary Department played a
very prominent role in the early history of livestock
development in Nigeria. Indeed, by the end of the
1939-45 War, the Department had become interna tionally recognised and requests were made by the
administration of most of the other West African
Territories to the veterinary laboratory in Vom for the
supply of vaccines. The serious nature of try panosomiasis (sleeping sickness) in man and ani mals was also of great concern to the Colonial
Administration in the West African Territories and
the need to control this disease led to the estab lishment in 1947 of a West African Institute for
Trypanosomiasis Research (WAITR). A main labo ratory to study the animal was sited in Vom-on the
Jos Plateau, an ideal location since the tsetse fly
vector was absent in that area.
Prior to 1951, the Nigerian Veterinary Depart ment had its headquarters, laboratories and a
school in Vom, with field offices in each Region.
With the coming of regional governments, the
Nigerian Veterinary Department was split into sepa rate regional departments.
The Director of
Veterinary Services became the Inspector-General
of Animal Health Services, while the designation of
the regional heads remained the same, except for
that of Northern Region which was changed to
Director of Veterinary Services. The post of
Inspector-General carried executive authority in the
regions only in so far as matters connected with
hides and skins trade were concerned. In October
1954, with the introduction of a new Constitution,
the Regional Departments became completely autonomous.
The post of the Inspector-General of
Animal Health Services was redesignated as the
Director of Veterinary Research, responsible to the
Federal Government and with executive authority
tor veterinary matters in Lagos. In 1967, when 12
States were created in Nigeria, each state assumed
responsibility for veterinary matters, within its
boundaries. The initial breeding policy designed to improve
livestock in Nigeria concentrated on the locally
available breeds of animal. About 1950, there was
a modification of this policy, whereby exotic breeds
of cattle were introduced to upgrade the local stock.
The Western Nigeria Development Corporation
(WNDC) established the Upper Ogun Ranch for the
commercial production and distribution of cattle. In
the Eastern Region, South Devon cattle were intro duced at the Obudu Ranch. Friesian bulls were
imported to the farm at Agege in Lagos; the
Teaching and Research Farm at the University of
lbadan obtained foundation stock of cattle from
Shika. Extensive facilities were also established for
research in piggery and poultry.
The administrative machinery for agricultural
development and co-ordination was also modified.
Technical committees established tor the various
aspects of primary production were modified. The
Veterinary Technical Committee was replaced by
the enlarged National Livestock Development
Committee which reported to the National Council
for Agriculture and Natural Resources. The
Livestock Meat Authority, established to serve the
northern states, had recently been empowered to
act on a national scale in collating data and con ducting surveys as well as in researching into vari ous aspects of livestock production, slaughter and
marketing in Nigeria.
Fisheries: The history of fisheries development
in Nigeria is a comparatively recent one, although
reports have shown that a fishing company operat ed from the coastal waters of Lagos long before
1915. Deliberate efforts at developing the country's
fisheries can be said to date back to the Second
World War when, because of the naval blockade of
the high seas, the then Colonial Administration
decided to develop the country's local resources,
A fisheries organisation was
established in 1941 as a Fisheries Development
Branch of the Agricultural Department of the
Colonial Office and a Senior Agricultural Officer was
appointed to conduct a survey of the industry and
its possibilities. The headquarters was sited at
Apese village and later at Onikan in Lagos, from
where, assisted by a part-time voluntary officer, pre liminary experiments in fish culture in brackish
water ponds at Onikan were carried out and sur veys were conducted on the canoe fisheries of
Apese village and Kuramo waters around Victoria
Island, Lagos. A small fisheries school was also
established at Onikan.
Early in 1945, the Fisheries Development
branch was temporarily transferred from the
Agricultural Department to the Development Branch
of the Secretariat. A Fisheries Development Officer
was appointed and a Five-Year Plan for Fisheries
Development was formulated and incorporated in
the Ten-Year Plan of Development and Welfare in
Nigeria, laid on the table of the Legislative Council
on 13th December, 1945.
From this date to 1947,
the Branch became a section of the Department of
Commerce and Industries with a Principal Fisheries
Officer in charge. In addition to the brackishwater
fish culture experiments and canoe fisheries sur veys, other activities were initiated. Small motor
fishing crafts were acquired for exploratory fishing
in the estuaries, lagoons and creeks. It was con sidered "that these fisheries should receive priority
treatment at this stage in Nigeria over sea fish eries".
This was in spite of the earlier reports on the
fishing company which showed that suitable trawl ing grounds existed off Lagos at depths of 18-65m.
Other activities undertaken included tests of rice
growing in tidal mangrove swamps, where such an
activity could be combined with fish farming, and
improvements in the social conditions of the wholly
fishermen populations of two small villages in
Lagos. Between 1948 and 1950, major efforts were
made at extending the artisanal fisheries pro gramme to other coastal areas of Nigeria. An active
extension service was established to demonstrate
the benefits of improved fishing techniques and
gear to the coastal canoe fishermen.
trawling surveys were undertaken in the vicinity of
Lagos and Camerouns and a sub-station was main tained at Opobo for several years before it was
closed down due to lack of funds and personnel. A
start was also made in fish culture in inland areas
by the construction of experimental ponds and the
stocking of the then existing ponds and reservoirs.
A Fish Farmer was appointed to extend this aspect
of production and this culminated in the establish ment in 1951, of a 160ha industrial-scale fish farm
at Panyam on the Jos Plateau. By the end of this
period, the branch had grown to become the
Federal Fisheries Services under the Federal
Ministry of Economic Development.
Between 1952 and 1957, the bulk of the marine
biological research was performed by the West
African Fisheries Research Institute (WAFRI) at
Freetown, Sierra Leone; a unit was maintained at
Birnin Kebbi to conduct research into the fisheries
of River Sokoto. In consequence of Nigeria's and
Ghana's withdrawal of their support, the WAFRI
was disbanded with effect from 31st March 1957;
the fisheries research activities of the Federal
Fisheries Service were expanded to take care of
this function. Under the 1954 Constitution of
Nigeria, the fisheries organisation was split
between the Federal and Regional Governments.
The Federal Fisheries Service of the Federal Ministry of Economic Department was headed by a
Director with laboratories and headquarters in
Lagos. The Western Region Fisheries Division of
the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources
was headed by a Principal Fisheries Officer. Its
headquarters and offices were at lbadan and a Sea
Fisheries Section at Lagos, a Marketing and
Distribution Section at Warri, Organisation and
Inspectorate at Epe and Fish Culture Section at
lbadan and Asaba. The Eastern Region Fisheries
Division of the Ministry of Agriculture was under the
charge of a Principal Fisheries Officer and the
headquarters at Aba and an outstation at Opobo.
The Fisheries Section of the Ministry of Agriculture
of the Northern Region was under the charge of a
Senior Fisheries Officer while the headquarters was
located first at Baga and later at Malarnfatori, Lake
Chad. In addition, the Northern Region Fish Farm
at Panyam was placed under the administration of
the Region's Ministry of Trade and Industry, and
was under the charge of a resident Fish Farmer.
The Federal Fisheries Service had the constitu tional responsibility for fisheries development and
research in the Lagos Federal Territory and
research in any other part of the country where the
Regional Government invited it to carry out any
specific research activity.
In practice, however, the
Western Region Sea Fisheries Section in Lagos,
sited in the same compound as the Federal
Fisheries Service, catered for all fishermen whatev er their origin and whether they actually lived in
Western Region Territory or in the Federal Territory.
So the Federal Fisheries Service left all Lagos fish eries development work to the Western Region fish eries Division. It concerned itself, instead, with the development of the modern fishing vessels
(trawlers) including their licensing; the planning of a
fishing terminal for Lagos; and also with research.
The Regions never requested Federal assistance
towards research. They either tried to conduct
research themselves or asked for international mul tilateral (FAO/UNDP) or bilateral (USAID) help.
Thus, the Federal Fisheries Service had to, on its
own initiative, identify regional research needs and
carry out what studies it felt were needed. On such
initiatives, the Malarnfatori station was established
on the Lake Chad; the Brackishwater fish farming
project was developed at Buguma; and studies
were initiated at the Kainji Dam site.
The period 1956-66 witnessed great expansion
in Nigeria's fishing activities. In the coastal trawler
fleet, from a single registered trawler in 1956, the
fleet was built up, by 1960, to 13 while the total fish
catch increased ten-fold during the period. This
level of production was sustained up to 1963 but
catches fell in 1964-66, following heavier exploita tion of the Lagos fishing grounds. By this period,
however, commercial quantities of prawns had
been discovered in the eastern parts of the country
and many of the vessels converted to prawn fishing,
thus reducing the pressure on the fish stock. By1970, the fishstock had fully recovered and the
expansion of inshore fishing activities was becom ing so rapid that plans were then made to regulate
fishing in order to conserve the rather limited
The period also saw a considerable
increase in the artisanal fisheries. This has been
attributed to the concentration of fishing activities
close to the rich grounds; higher money returns for
efforts; general improvement in processing, storage
and distribution methods; improvement in the type
of fishing craft used and, especially, to the higher
gear efficiency due to a complete changeover to
synthetic fibre. The general result was that the con tribution of fisheries to the country's QDP quadru pled between 1960 and 1970.