The Department of Agriculture is responsible for the agricultural activities in the District. The main services by the department to the farmers are Agriculture Extension Services, Veterinary Services Delivery, Group Formation, Home Visits, Field Visits, Technical Training, On Farm Demonstrations, Pest and Disease Survey Control.

The major food crops grown are maize, cassava, plantain and cocoyam. Major vegetables grown are tomato, garden egg, okro, and pepper. Industrial crops that are grown are cocoa, oil palm, coffee, and cashew.

The distribution of agricultural households by the type of agricultural activity they are engaged in and locality of residence. The 8,024 households engaged in agriculture in the District are into either crop farming, tree planting, livestock rearing or fish farming. The most predominant among agricultural households is crop farming (7,887) followed by livestock rearing (2,318). At the bottom are households engaged in tree growing (202) and fish farming (32). The number of rural households (6,318) constituting 78.7 percent is more than that of the urban households (1,706) representing 21.3 percent of households engaged in agricultural activities. Apart from tree planting which has more urban households than rural (56.4 % v 43.6%); the other agricultural activities have more rural households compared to urban. 

Type of Livestock Numbers and Keepers

Livestock rearing is the second most patronised agricultural activity in the District. Of the total number of livestock (98,476), chicken constitutes 56,752 (57.6 %). This is followed by sheep, 13,901 (14.1 %) and Fish Farming, 11,279 (11.5%). The number of keepers manning the livestock in the District stands at 3,717, thus providing the average number of animal per keeper at 26. Marine fishing and fish farming records the highest numbers in terms of average animal per keeper (513 and 418 respectively) which somewhat indicates the low level of people engaged in the two activities. 

The major challenge facing the livestock sector is the absence of veterinary officers in the District and therefore the farmers have no access to veterinary services.  This negatively impact on the development of the livestock industry. In furtherance to this, the forest vegetation greatly limits the number of cattle which could be reared in the District.

Crop Farming

Three main types of crop farming are practiced in the District namely; mono-cropping, mixed cropping and plantation cropping. The traditional farming method in which hoes and cutlasses are the most common implements used in the preparation of the land is widely practiced. This system is associated with slash and burn practices.  Shifting cultivation is the most wide spread farming method. The normal fallow period is between four (4) to five (5) years after one (1) to three (3) cropping season (s). The District is comparatively endowed with abundant cheap migrant labour that is available throughout the year. However, some farming activities are normally undertaken by family members including children.

Land for agriculture may be obtained through hiring, outright purchase or share cropping which is the most common practice. There are 2 main types of share cropping/holdings namely; “Abunu/Abusa” where payment for a piece of land is made with part of the produce as “Abunu” or Abusa”, where either half or one-third of the farm produce is paid to the land owner. The “Abunu” is generally used in the case of tree crops like maize, cassava and yam. A piece of land may be hired and money is given to the custodian for use of a piece of land within a particular agreed period. The District’s production of various crops is shown in table 1.20.

Most of the crops produced are stored by traditional means. A small number of the improved narrow cribs can be found in few communities. Farmers suffer from high post- harvest losses due to lack of improved post -harvest facilities, difficult access to storage points and markets and lack of agricultural produce processing equipment. There are only few agricultural produce which are processed in the District and these are cassava into gari, maize into corn dough, oil-palm into palm-oil and palm kennel oil.

Problems of Agriculture

The following are some of the problems faced by the agriculture sub-sector:
•    Over reliance on rain-fed agriculture
•    Poor road network
•    Lack of adequate marketing facilities
•    High transportation cost
•    Inadequate extension staff support
•    High cost of agricultural inputs
•    Low income from agricultural production
•    Difficulty in accessing credit facilities
•    Over reliance on traditional methods for farming