Examining the rapid growth of urban demand in West Africa, this book studies a Yoruba community in the supply hinterland of Ibadan since the 1960s. It tells the social and agricultural history of its various producers, from the Nigerian civil war to structural adjustment.

Of the several forces reshaping West African rural societies and economies in the post-colonial period, one of the most pervasive is the rapid growth of urban demand. This book studies a Yoruba community in the supply hinterland of Ibadan since the mid-1970s. It tells the social and agricultural history of its various producers, from the Nigerian civil war, via the oil boom and bust, to structural adjustment. It argues that principles of occupational organization inherited from the past are now being applied to the creation of a competitive and responsive regional market that promises to be one of the most important social forms in West Africa's future.

Part 1: locations. Part 2: narratives, including migrant labour, the oil boom, mid-scale farmers, women's entry into farming. Part 3: synergies, including collective dynamics and agro-ecology in the late-1980s.