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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Rural development within the context of the structural adjustment programme: the case of Nigeria |
Author: | Egbon, P.C. |
Year: | 1994 |
Periodical: | The Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies |
Volume: | 36 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 379-393 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | rural development economic policy |
Abstract: | In order to assess the impact of Nigeria's structural adjustment programme (SAP) on rural development it is necessary first to conceptualize, understand and articulate the core components of rural development. The present article therefore traces the ideological and methodological dimensions of rural development, establishes the rationale for the pursuit of concrete rural development in Nigeria, and ascertains the extent to which the SAP can facilitate the achievement of the stated goals of the integrated rural development programme. It concludes that the SAP package seems to have been directed at the methodological rather than the ideological aspects of rural development. It is characterized by a narrow sectoral preoccupation with increasing agricultural productivity and output, rather than emphasizing the amelioration of rural poverty and the improvement of the quality of rural life. The SAP will worsen existing regional disparities and exacerbate the rural-urban drift because small farmholders will be marginalized. It does not address the problem of the allocation of scarce land resources in favour of agriculture. Moreover, if costs are to be reduced, local governments must be given the central role in the implementation of rural development programmes, with the Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI) in a purely supervisory function. Bibliogr., sum. |