Making a profit, making a living: commercial food farming and urban hinterlands in north-west Nigeria

Abstract

The article explores the nature and development of commercial food farming during the 1990s around Sokoto, and its reliance on a floating labour force, something which is not unique to that city but is part of Nigeria's nationwide farming boom, focused on urban and regional markets. The evidence collected from the Sokoto hinterland suggests a new buoyancy in commercial agriculture and an inflow of investment, as under the present economic and political conditions the elites and managerial classes have moved into farming as private and state contracting has proved less rewarding. Large-scale grain and fadama farming and food trading have a long history, but now they are embedded in new analytical categories which indicate a strengthening of capitalist relations of production, and there are signs that a wide spectrum of interests believe capital accumulation can be achieved in the agricultural sector. There are big profits in food fanning provided the farmer has sufficient capital to invest and can meet recurrent labour costs. In the 1990s medium-size farms, especially on irrigated lowland represent a significant shift towards capitalist agriculture, at least in the short term. The introduction of motorised pumps via the World Bank's Agricultural Development Projects marks a substantial innovation in irrigated farming, which also has a long history and has yielded food surpluses traded over a wide area. It is plain that the farmers who have benefited most from partial mechanisation and the surge in food prices are the better-off small commodity producers in the villages, often linked by descent or clientage with traditional rulers and/or politicians, together with the new urban managerial classes.

Descending the energy ladder? Oil price shocks and domestic fuel choices in Kano, Nigeria

“…For centuries, Kano has enjoyed a strong historical relationship with its surrounding rural area -most notably through the provision of seasonal employment and markets for food surpluses and other natural resources (Swindell et al, 1999) -and the city's periphery has long been heralded as a region of sustainable natural resource management. These long and buoyant systems of local and regional trading in 'Hausaland' have been well documented by scholars (see, for example, Prothero, 1972;Hill, 1972Hill, , 1977, and as far back as the fourteenth century, the growth and development of Kano has been propelled by a high demand for resources from its nearby accompanying manicured appearance of this cultural mosaic of vegetation is now often referred to as 'farmed parkland' (Pullan, 1974), a sustainable agro-forestry strategy where certain trees are protected and integrated into farming systems.…”

Market Gardening as a Livelihood Strategy: a Case Study of Rural-Urban Migrants in Kapit, Sarawak, Malaysia

“…In 50% of cases market gardening was the primary source of household income and in the other 50% of cases it was a secondary source of household income. This confirms the flexible role of market gardening as an income generator for individuals and households as observed by Wooten (2003), Becker (2000) and Swindell et al (1999).…”

“…Many rural farmers have benefited considerably under modern operating environments, although it is also recognised the benefits from technology and agrarian restructuring are not uniform. Swindell et al (1999) exemplify this in a study of commercial food farming around Sokoto City in Nigeria. Access to new technology, for example the introduction of motorised pumps via the World Bank's Agricultural…”

“…Research on market gardening is often coupled with rural studies on agriculture and commercial food cropping. For example, Swindell et al (1999) include market gardening with grains and other commercial food crops in their examination of agrarian livelihoods in North-West Nigeria. However, there is a growing trend to examine market gardening as a livelihood strategy in the broader field of commercial food farming and its relationship with urban centres.…”

Introducing Research into Policy: Lessons from District Studies of Dryland Development in Sub‐Saharan Africa

“…7. This has also been illustrated in Nigeria, with the uptake of the ox plough in the 1970s and '80s in areas such as Kano and Sokoto (World Bank, 1995b;Adams and Mortimore, 1997;Swindell et al, 1999). account of local interests, increasing rather than reducing uncertainty (Lo and Dione, 2000).…”