Nigeria's climate permits the cultivation of a mixture of crops in a pattern that emerged in earlier centuries in response to local conditions. As in other West Africa states, rainfall is heaviest in the south, where the forests and savannas benefit from extensive precipitation and comparatively short dry seasons. The staples are root crops, including cassava, yams, taro (cocoyams), and sweet potatoes. Tree crops--cacao, oil palm, and rubber--constitute the area's main commercial produce. Cacao, from which cocoa is made, grows mostly in the southwest. Oil palms predominate in the southeast and are numerous in the south-central area. Rubber stands are common in south-central and southeastern Nigeria.

Most of Nigeria's sheep and goats are in the north, where the Fulani maintained an approximate ratio of 30 % sheep and goats to 70 % cattle. About 40 % of northern nonFulani farming households are around to keep sheep and goats. Most pigs are raised in the south, where the Muslim proscription against eating pork is not a remarkable factor. Almost all rural households raise poultry as a subsistence meat. Chickens are predominantly of indigenous origin, and there is some crossbreeding with foreign stock. Egg production is low. Private commercial poultry operations increased rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s near urban areas, providing a growing source of eggs for the cities. But commercial operations remained largely dependent on corn and other feeds imported from the United States.