Resettlement and Agricultural Change in a Rural Nigerian Environment

Abstract

The inundation of about 950 ha of farm land and the consequent construction of Jebba dam on the Niger in Nigeria resulted in the evacuation of about 6,000 rural dwellers who were resettled into new settlements. The evacuees were migrant farmer-fishermen, who remained in new locations after resettlement. The study examined the effect of resettlement on agricultural practices among the people few years after resettlement. Simple random sampling through questionnaire administration of about 30 per cent rural household heads was applied. It was observed that there are a lot of dislocations as a result of resettlement, with disparities amongst the resettlers. The creation of new lake also allowed for influx of fishermen into the lake basin while farming productivity was greatly affected. Despite this, there is little or no improvement of fishing technology while the proportion of livestock has greatly reduced. The lessons from this scheme, however, stand at the threshold of a systematic study of resettlement in Nigeria as a whole.

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