ASABA - Mr. Andrew Erhikakpor, a lecturer at the Asaba campus of the Delta State University, says the various communities in the country can be developed through agriculture.

He told newsmen in Asaba that agriculture was important in rural economic growth and a major indicator of the socio-economic well being of the rural communities.

Erhikakpor explained that the two indicators, rural economic growth and rural well being, were closely linked to agricultural performance. He said: “Unfortunately, agricultural productivity has been on the decline in the past couple of decades across the country.

“There has been a serious erosion of confidence in our agricultural products in the world market. This is a result of low agricultural productivity.

“There is the danger of running into a food crisis if something is not done to reverse the tread.”
The lecturer said some internal and external factors had contributed to the low productivity in agriculture.

He said inappropriate policy environment for agricultural investment, and the complicated land tenure system were responsible for low productivity in agriculture.

Erhikakpor also said that high population growth, poor state of basic infrastructure, poor international prices for primary agricultural commodities constituted some of the external factors.
He called for improvement in the capacity of farmers, to serve their own needs as well as in the physical and organisational conditions of market accessibility to enable farmers to increase production.

The lecturer said the empowerment of the rural farmers in developing their own
rural financial needs could also assist in raising productivity in the sector.

He said other measures that could improve productivity include assisting rural farmers to develop their organisational skills and in the use of agricultural technology, as well as the development of rural communities.

Erhikakpor said the development of rural communities had been recognised as a key factor in poverty reduction and overall social economic development in any society.

He said that eradicating poverty was the greatest challenge facing the world today.
The lecturer noted that more than 70 per cent of Nigerians lived in the rural communities and produced 90 per cent of