摘要：The growth rates in the industrialized nations have been impressive most especially in
the area of job creations. This has had impact on economic development. It is very essential for the
third world countries to industrialize if they must be freed from poverty and underdevelopment. But
since most of these countries have primary resources, their focus should be on those industries that
use more of these resources as inputs. Nigeria’s weakness in regional planning, for instance, encourages
locating farmlands and manufacturing industries in the same area. Such is the case of Ewekoro- a small
and all rural community in the south- west, Nigeria. This community harbours a cement factory sitting
side by side with a farming community. Respondents for the study were drawn from the staff of the
factory and the Ewekoro farmers. The goal was to determine the extent of the community’s development,
the degree of environmental degradation and the impact of both on agricultural output in the area. To
some extent the activities of the cement factory affect agricultural output through environmental
degradation. The study shows how all this have occurred. It then points to how economic growth can
be facilitated with lesser impact on the environment.
