Agriculture was an important economic activity. it absorbed a large number of people and many other economic activities revolved around it.
Agriculture made it possible to create, accumulate and appropriate wealth in the form of food stuffs And cash crops . agriculture encourage a rapid increase in population since there would be food to feed a large number of people. it also encourage a degree of urbanization which made it possible for people to engage in and finance non-agricultural activities.
farm work consisted of clearing land, making mounds, sowing, weeding and harvesting. the systems of cultivation varied considerably but the following were common: shifting cultivation, irrigation, permanent cultivation ,rotational ,Bush follow and Mixed cropping.
The choice of any of these system dependend on the availability of land,The land tenure system and the physical features of the Land. shifting cultivation however, stood out as the most wise spread. The system was the most effective in an economy where land was not too scarce, since it called for a temporary abandonment of over-used land for as long as it could regain it fertility.
Shifting cultivation had a number of advantages: it's made it possible to reduce the spread and danger of insects and weeds and allowed the farmland to regain its fertility without the application of fertilizers.
Pre-colonial agriculture was quite efficient.it is difficult to quantify the level of agriculture but it is obvious that production far outweighed domestic consumption. This is because they key crops and animals were exchanged for other goods and services.though simple implement were used,the various communities cultivated the land within their respective domains and in some part of the forest zones large areas of land were reduced to grassland.
post colonial agriculture suffers from one main problem-the unwilliness of the youths to stay in the rural areas to farm. many young people especially able body Males do not find agriculture a very attractive occupation. The prefer moving the Urban areas to hunt for White collar jobs that are scarce. agricultural activities are left to the elderly. This problem has affected agricultural practices because few people are left to plant valuable crop.