Planning implications of emerging trends impeding effective rural agricultural practices in selected food baskets of Rivers State Nigeria

International Journal of Agriculture & Environmental Science

© 2018 by SSRG - IJAES Journal

Volume 5 Issue 1

Year of Publication : 2018

Authors : Chikagbum Wocha, Ibama Brown

10.14445/23942568/IJAES-V5I1P102

How to Cite?

Chikagbum Wocha, Ibama Brown, " Planning implications of emerging trends impeding effective rural agricultural practices in selected food baskets of Rivers State Nigeria," SSRG International Journal of Agriculture & Environmental Science, vol. 5,  no. 1, pp. 5-14, 2018. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23942568/IJAES-V5I1P102

Abstract:

Agriculture prior the discovery of petrodollars has been one of the major sources of rural livelihood and income streams in Nigeria. Nigeria once thrived with agriculture but in recent times this trend has incrementally declined and impeded rural agriculture in the society. The once thriving agrarian society tend to lack food sufficiency and now imports food from other countries which can be attributed to several emerging trends. This study tried to identify the emerging trends impeding effective rural agricultural practices in selected food baskets of Rivers State, Nigeria with a view to making recommendations that would enhance and encourage participation in rural agricultural practices. The study adopted the multi-stage sampling techniques to identify the food baskets in Rivers State, identifying potential participants for key informant interviews for the study and data was got using unstructured questionnaire. A total of sixty-three (63) respondents were randomly interviewed based on availability and willingness to participate. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data into themes and the predominant themes were identified as the emerging trends. The study found out that besides the generic trends, several other emerging trends occur in Rivers State which include: political conflicts, herdsmen invasion, sea pirates attack, inundation, community development, spills from pipelines, poor accessibility and others. The planning implication of these incursions tend to lead to failure of public facilities, dotting of the city scape by emerging squatter settlements which adds enormous pressure on both financial and other resources of the government and individuals. The study further recommended that there should be urgent need for the government to protect the waterways against sea pirate attacks, introduction of ranching as against open grazing currently practiced, sustainable urban development, rural roads should be maintained properly.

Keywords:

Agriculture, Emerging trends, Food baskets, Livelihood, Rivers State, Rural agriculture

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