Hill Farmers of Nigeria: Cultural Ecology of the Kofyar of the Jos Plateau 1968

By Robert McC. Netting (1968, University of Washington Press, Monograph 46) — First Edition, Hardcover with Dust Jacket

An ethnographic landmark in agricultural ecology, this 259-page volume explores the traditional farming practices of the Kofyar people of the Jos Plateau in northern Nigeria. Netting details how the Kofyar adapt to their rugged hill environment: stone-walled terraces, mixed crop and animal systems, communal labor, careful soil management (using dung, ashes, and refuse), and shifting cultivation balanced by more permanent homestead gardening.

While this book isn’t rare in the sense of high monetary value, its knowledge is deeply precious. It ties directly into agroforestry, permaculture, and sustainable land-use practices — fields I’m deeply invested in. My copy, still protected by its dust jacket, is a reminder of how landscapes, culture, and ecological insight are inseparable.