Urbanization ; A Problem to Food Production and Agricultural Development

Urbanization ; A Problem to Food Production and Agricultural Development

The word, urbanization is the total change and increase of people and infrastructures and different activities going on at given environment , owing to a motivating factors, that sustains the people coming in and going out of such environment.

In definition, urbanization could be said to be the development of an area through higher concentration of people, infrastructures and different exchange of functional activities going on day and nigh, which has no particular season/duration, but has an activities  that can attract more developments as the population of people and infrastructures and activities grow perpetually.

However, this definition tries to bring focus the condition of our natural environment when tampered with, the adverse effects to man, and his natural and physical environment.   It also tries to describe urbanization as a state of subduing an environment and over doing its nature, using, houses roads, industries factories, schools, churches, markets hospitals offices, airways and other generating factors of developments, like migration of people which constitute its workforce.

The rate at which urbanization in Enugu state were speeding, is so adverse on the other side of development, thus agriculture and food-production, apart form migration, other factors have helped to create a havoc in the area of food and other natural development which sustain the well-being of the people in the state.

Notably, most towns and communities in Enugu have cost every hope on agriculture of the to erosion deforestation and other environmental degradations brought about by industrial operating activities.

For instance, air pollution and water pollution has become a common place in our environment because of the damage resulted from industrial wastage, other natural disasters like bush burning, and exposure of our environment tot he burning rays of the sin, broke down and rules of eco-system which were greatly tampered unto, given rise to poor growth in Agricultural in put.

Agricultural Production Distribution Marketers

Enugu State is endowed with natural resources scattered across its, local government areas towns and villages with different zonal markets, where agricultural produces, produced form the rural areas by rural develops were marketed in large quality, depending on the kind of produce which is grown cheaply in their localities for instance, once Oba market was known to cover the whole part of ledence, white AFOR OPI market covers same areas of Nuskka and Igbo Etiti, AFOR Ugboka covers the some areas Nkanu South L.G.A And Orice Ogoligo Eji Ndu Agu Akpugo covers some areas of  Nkanu West, Furthermore, Aninri, hard Orie Nnewe.

And Awgu have their own areas markets

Urounni, L.G.A have Afon Adani and Orie Opanda market, moreover, Ezeagu have the  Uvolo market, while Ude L.G.A have Nkwo Agu markets and Orie Agu, market respecting including other towns with their sub market centers.

Each of the asformention are mainly central markets of the people of Enugu State, where farm produce are displayed for sale, rargingly form yam, Cassava, Maize Rice, palm produce plantain and other food vegetable and fruits, as wall other cash crops.

In recent past, these mentioned towns were known as the food donors of the state, because every food item comes out in large qualities from the then farmers, and were distributed to the urban cities is the date.

The Signs of Agriculture Backwardness

However as urbanization increased in different parts of the state, most these farmers began to decline in operations and food production less in volume.

The lack of encouragement on the side of the governing authority during the military leadership blew the for the young ones who help in farming and they began to migrate.  Then Migration took the stage in every side of the society. The  failure of the state authorities toward equal distribution of developmental divides like, redistribution , of technologies, Equal environmental planning and maintenance so as already existing farms, at Adani farm site, below and Amagunce farm site respectively, and putting down more infrastructure for Agricultural enhancement and motivation generated poor harvest, as much more man power are not long in force and accompanied by initial capital to trust and pay for tough cost of labour crocked the sector.

Infact, it left so many to live in a state of confusion, and so many youth who were supposed to have been employed in farms has no option then to join in roaming along the streets towns and cities in search of white colour jobs, and some managed to start petty trading without training while our girls and women are subjected to different  odd jobs in order to meet up with social demands.

Price of Food Crisis In Our Markets

Price is variable condition in value of any Community.  The word price it stated gives out the rate of cost that determines the availability and importance of a product on service in terms of supply and demand of every economy price may be defined as the value of a commodity or services expressed in money.   The effect of low production on the side of agriculture owing to unenhanced farming tools, migration and lack of equal distribution of technologies, and might concentration on other industrial developments created an acute food scarcity in the entire state.

This forced the prices of food commodity like Garri, Rice, Yam maize and other related food items to rise beyond the ordinary class among the citizens.

For instance, a tuber of yam sold for N 30.00 only thirty naira in recent past are now being sold between one hundred and fifty naira (N150.00) and one hundred and thirty naira only(N 130.00). A basin of garri sold for one thousand naira only (N 1000.00) are now sold for two thousand five hundred naira only (N 2,500.00.)

And a bushell of rice that was sold for (900.00 and N 1,200.00 nine hundred and one thousand two hundred now sales at between two thousand eight hundred and three thousand naira only.

A tin of maize sold for five hundred naira (N 500.00) some years back, sales for one thousand and one thousand two hundred naira depending on the species of material food.

Furthermore, this neglect of agricultural and food production, brought hunger, disease, malnutrition which constitute social vices, among our youth who get involved in robbery, 419, unwanted pregnancies is abortion, by our girls and even married women.

Fraud spread among the working class in different sectors of the economy in a bid to meet up with the pressing demand of high cost of living.  It went on in  given rise to food addition and unbalanced diet  in our homes, as people were compelled to g for easy and affordable subvention foods, like spaghetti, indomi, bread, beverages, and other confectioneries. Urbanization and its civilization tendencies have even changed our people’s way of cooking due to high cost of fire wood, people have resorted tot he use of chemical, electrical appliance which in most cases causes an out break of fire disaster carried foods have become the order of the day with no regard on the side effects it causes on the health of the people.

Urbanization and Food Supply Crisis

Basically, there has been tendencies of food supply crisis as urbanization increases, learning a great a vacum in our local markets food supply.

This situation created a good market target for other states that has a good control of their natural and physical environment, which influenced the price of food commodity in the state to a greater height.   

Other business men and women took the opportunity to market all kinds of conventioned food items which serves as a substitute to the teaming populace, that has no choice them taking whatever could be affordable and consumable.

There has been external food supply at an unaffordable rate, which dominated the whole markets of Enugu metropolis.

This was as a result of the failure of our local market in supplying of food items due to failure in Agriculture.

The research carried out on food supply in Enugu state shows that 80% percent of food and other agricultural products are supplied from outside the state, in different markets around the state capital, show poor turn-up of food from the localities of Enugu.

For instance, New markets is one major markets in Enugu state capital, where products from different parts of local government areas are marketed by the people of the state, each of the communities that supply produce, has stand in different locations.

For example Nsukka, Ezeagu, Ude, Agwu and Nkanu respectively.

Among these stand points, mostly were women on sales of vegetable crops and other cash production, while other are on the sales of Garri, Abacha and other sorts.

The main tangible agricultural product are found among the stands of other suppliers from other neigbouring state like Ebonyi, plateau sorts, Rice, millet, plantain Corn, raw cassava (fufu and other food crops and seedings fish)

It is estimated that each day at last two lorry loads of food material and other agricultural commodities are supplied to Enugu and its environs by the aforementioned states.

It could be understood that all these supply from other states are as a rescue supply operation on food crisis in Enugu state as urbanization has eaten deep into agriculture sector and the natural environment.

———project not complete——- project not complete ———–not complete————–—-

This article was extracted from a Project Research Work Topic “URBANIZATION A PROBLEM TO FOOD PRODUCTION AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT (A CASE STUDY OF ENUGU STATE)”

Urbanization ; A Problem to Food Production and Agricultural Development

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