Business Economy Oyo State

Agriculture is the main occupation of the people of Oyo State. The climate in the state favours the cultivation of crops like maize, yam, cassava, millet, rice, plantains, cocoa, palm produce, cashew etc. There are a number of government farm settlements in Ipapo, Ilora, Eruwa, Ogbomosho, Iresaadu, Ijaiye, Akufo and Lalupon. There is abundance of clay, kaolin and aquamarine.



The economic activities of Ibadan also include commerce, handicrafts, manufacturing, and service industries. Although the city’s farming population has declined, it is still large for an urban area. Many cultivators are part-time farmers who augment their earnings with other work.

Ibadan is an important commercial centre. Virtually every street and corner in the traditional core and the inner suburbs of the city is a market square or stall. Within the city there are many markets. The largest daily market stretches in a belt from the railway station in the west to the centre of the city and is Ibadan’s commercial core.

Some local crafts still flourish. These include weaving, spinning and dyeing, pottery making, and blacksmithing. The adire (“tie-dye”) cloth dyed locally in large pots of indigo is popular. The small businesses in the city engage in corn milling, leather working, wood and steel furniture making, printing, photography, hotel management, and motor and other repairing. There are, however, few modern manufacturing industries.