The Future Of Cassava Production In Nigeria

摘要

This work was inspired by a genuine desire to reduce poverty in the Nigerian society, generate employment, promote rural development, increase export and also serve as a panacea to the country's over-dependence on crude oil. The objective of this study is therefore to establish the current potential of cassava production in Nigeria with a view to developing and actualizing them. In achieving this objective, figures for cassava annual production outputs were obtained from records kept by relevant organizations for the past twenty eight years (1980-2007). The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 15.0 was used to analyze the data to obtain the best time series model that can predict the annual cassava output. The linear model obtained predicted production output at about 56 and 60 millions tonnes of cassava by the year 2017 and 2020, respectively. These figures were quite very small when compared with targets of 150 million tonnes in 2020 set by stakeholders in agriculture in successive governments. This necessitated the identification of the current constraints militating against cassava production and the possible way forward. Therefore, questionnaires were distributed and the Likert Scale used for analysis to determine the constraints militating against cassava production and proffer solutions. In charting a way forward, efforts by past administrations at improving cassava production were appraised. Consequently, the research recommended the provision of agricultural inputs such as credit facilities and infrastructural facilities as key measures necessary for enhanced cassava production.