Agriculture

Agriculture contributes immensely to the African economy in various ways; namely in the provision of food for the increasing population of food for the increasing population; supply of adequate raw materials to a growing industrial sector, a major source of employment, generation of foreign exchange earnings and provisions of a market for the products of the industrial sector among others. This essay will justify the use of chiefs to link rural areas to government policies and institutions and if this approach is workable. The essay will begin with key definitions, agriculture and rural underdevelopment, then the main points will be addressed and a conclusion will be drawn.
  The definition of agriculture changes over time. Agriculture is the cultivation of plants and husbandry of animals, that is, the management of living things and ecosystems to produce goods and services for the people. Agriculture includes farming; ranching; aquaculture; apiculture; horticulture; viticulture; animal husbandry, including, but not limited to, the care and raising of livestock, equine, and fur-bearing animals; poultry husbandry and the production of poultry and poultry products; dairy production; the production of field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, flowers, sod, or mushrooms; timber; pasturage; any combination of the foregoing; the processing, drying, storage, and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are conducted in conjunction with, but are secondary to, such husbandry or production.
Another concept central to our discussion in this essay is rural development. An understanding of the concept of development will give a clearer picture of rural development. Simon (2004) sees development as an improvement in quality of life (not just material standard of living) in both quantitative terms. He opines that development must been seen as actually and temporally relative, needing to be appropriate to...