OIL ECONOMY AND LABOUR SHIFT, THE MILIEU OF FOOD INSECURITY IN THE ONDO PROVINCE: A HISTORIC REVIEW -1950-1985.

This study is a historical survey, it identified the major reason for the depleted food basket of the nation as the shift from major food crop production to oil economy beginning from the 1950s. The already educated young men who provided labour in support of their fathers at the various farms began to move to the urban centers for employment at the oil companies, leaving the food crops to suffer resulting in a major set back in food production. Nigerian youths left food crop farming to enjoy the national cake, thereby creating rural decay in which the old farmers solely grappled with the needed labour to keep the system in operation. This study made use of archival materials and oral interview conducted with Respondents in the study area. Books, journal articles, letters, memoirs and the Internet were the secondary source of data collection. Findings showed that labour flight from the Ondo Province since the 1950s, consequent upon oil economy, was principally responsible for paucity of food in the area. It elicited the veracity of the huge loss of healthy food items since the era of oil exploration as well as its irrecoverable impact on the the people in the study area. This study therefore suggested a more pragmatic economic policy towards agriculture that could lead to of opening up of fallow land to encourage the youth for food crop production farming for sustainable development.