Agricultural products like Cocoa, Palm Kernel/ Oil, Groundnut, Cotton, Timber amongst others, formed the bedrock of the Nigerian economy in the pre-independence period. Hence, non-oil exports sustained the Nigerian economy and served as the source of the country's foreign exchange earnings from around 1 900 up to 1965. However, the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantity resulted to a decline in the agricultural sector. Revenue generated from the non oil export began to decline as oil boomed in the 1970s. As it dawned on the Federal Government of Nigeria that oil revenue was no longer a sustainable means of income to meet its financial obligations, the Government began to seek for ways of diversifying the economy.
