GOVERNMENT AGRICULTURAL LAND ACQUISITION AND RURAL FARMING HOUSEHOLDS’ LIVELIHOOD IN SOUTH WEST NIGERIA

Abstract

The Nigeria Land Use Act of 1978 placed statutory ownership of land into the State governors’ hands for public interest, and since then, the objectives of this act are yet to be met after 43 years of its enactment. Rural farming households in South West Nigeria has over the years experienced a forceful dispossession of their parcel of land by the State government and the conflicts arising from this take-over have remained largely unresolved both by lawful and peaceful means. The study examined the guiding principles of government agricultural land acquisition and rural farming households’ livelihood in South West Nigeria. The study used primary data sourced from 480 displaced rural farming households whose land has being acquired by government. The respondents were selected using two-stage sampling techniques. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Likert five points scale was used to measures attitudes. The results revealed that the displacement of rural farming households pushed many of the farmers to engaged in other jobs rather than relying only on farming activities. Likewise, there was a notable difference between the income earned by the farmers before and after forceful dispossession. The Likert five points scale revealed that the comprehensive approach to the acquisition and allocation of land and a robust and inclusive engagement strategy with all stakeholders, including affected communities and vulnerable groups was not effective in South West, Nigeria. This was reinforced by the finding that majority (75%) of the respondents reported a substantial knowledge gap and lack of awareness about policy frameworks and procedures associated with government agricultural land acquisition. The study recommended that State government should embrace comprehensive approach to the acquisition and allocation of land as stipulated by Committee on World Food Security-Responsible Agricultural Investment (CFS-RAI) and payment of fair compensation to the affected families whose land has been acquired by government.