Theory question 105
Nigeria: People and Economy(a) Draw a sketch map of Nigeria. On the map, show and name: (i) the North Central Highlands; (ii) the rivers Niger and Benue. (b) Name two export crops and four food crops of the North Central Highlands. (c) Describe the North Central Highlands under the following headings: (i) agricultural activities; (ii) problems of development.
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(a) Map with the North Central Highlands (Jos Plateau and surrounding high plains of Hausaland, in Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi area); River Niger entering from the north-west to Lokoja and the delta; River Benue from the east joining at Lokoja.
(b) Export: cotton, groundnuts, soya beans, ginger, tobacco. Food: maize, guinea corn (sorghum), millet, yams, Irish potatoes, acha, rice, vegetables.
(c)(i) Mixed farming; grain and root crops; Irish potatoes and temperate vegetables on the cool plateau; cattle rearing by the Fulani (tsetse-free, cool); dry season irrigated farming (fadama); dairy farming (Vom).
(ii) Poor, leached, eroded soils (mining spoils); subsistence farming; pests (locusts) and diseases (river blindness, meningitis); poor roads in rugged areas; ethnic and farmer-herder conflicts; mining wasteland; inadequate capital.
Mark both rivers with their confluence at Lokoja.