About 70% of Nigeria's population is rural. Farmers cultivate a variety of root crops, such as yams, cocoyams, cassava, potatoes and sweet potatoes and grains such as millet, corn and guinea corn. They produce cocoa, oil palm, rubber, cotton and peanuts for commercial purposes. Fulani farmers in the north tend to large cattle herds. Other Nigerians work in fishing, forestry or mining. Many Nigerians work in the oil and gas industry. Nigeria is the sixth largest producer and exporter of petroleum in the world. The manufacturing sector also provides employment to city dwellers.
Many Nigerians are employed in banking and the civil service. Nigerians who set up their own businesses work hard to make them successful. In the public service, however, advancement is based more on seniority and kinship than on performance. Most manufacturing and government workers are organized into labour unions.	Did you know?       It is a common practice to bargain for goods in Nigerian markets. Bargaining requires great skill. The shopper must know the latest prices.
Women participate in all kinds of economic activities. Rural women work on the farms of their husbands or fathers, carry out trading in the village markets or produce craft items for sale. Many women have to go long distances to fetch water and firewood. Women in towns may hold paid jobs, particularly in trade. In the marketplaces in Nigeria, women outnumber men as traders and customers; but this does not mean that women run the marketplace. The allocation of stalls is controlled by local governments. Markets in Nigeria have served as a base for women's organizations. Market women's associations have staged many protests on issues ranging from allocation of market stalls to concerns over increased school fees.
Many Nigerian women have joined the ranks of professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, university professors, engineers and bankers. Women in all fields of work assume most of the responsibility for household tasks. In recent times, because of the fall in oil prices, increasing foreign debt, inflation and problems within the government, Nigerian economic conditions have deteriorated. Economic problems have caused hardship for most Nigerian people.