Since independence in 1960, Nigeria’s
agricultural sector has experienced slow output
growth that has not kept pace with population
increases. This has resulted in declining
agricultural exports and domestic food supplies and a growing reliance on imported food. Nigeria
has been particularly fortunate in having vast oil
reserves but it has also been plagued by economic
chaos and political instability over the past three
decades while the decline in the agricultural sector
can be partly explained by drought and serious pest
and diseases infestations, there are other prominent
reasons for its decline, including the neglect of the
agricultural sector after the oil boom, and
unfavourable government policies which greatly
affected the technology generation capacity and
technology environment, farm level production and
marketing environment and production and
coordination machinations between different stages
of the oil palm sector in Nigeria (Hyman, 1990).