ANAMBRA STATE GOVERNMENT AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, 1976-1991: AN APPRAISAL

Abstract

Agriculture plays a vital role in the growth of the economy of states in Nigeria. Consequently, each state initiates programmes that would foster agricultural production. This paper describes and analyzes the Anambra State government’s engagements in agriculture during the period 1976-1991 and by so doing appraise the extent the efforts contributed to the growth of agriculture and demonstrate how sustainable the growth was. This is informed by the motley of projects the government established in this regard, the financial and human resources injected into them and the publicity they received. Much as this is a subject of interest, scholarly attention on it appears rather tenuous. This paper sets out to address this neglect. Data for the paper are derived from primary and secondary sources. They are presented chronologically and analytically. The paper combines qualitative and quantitative methods of research. It does not align the analysis to theoretical constructs, but uses available data to substantiate the thrust of its argument. On the strength of available evidence, it contends that the government’s engagements in agriculture lacked sustainability and their effects tended to fade away with the administration that initiated them. It is so much so that virtually all the projects are presently ghosts of their former selves as they are desolate and in ruination.