Olurotimi Sodiya

The need to prepare and implement a Sub-Regional Plan for the study area is hinged on the underutilisation of the natural resources in the area, and their low income on cassava processing. Data on the land use/land cover of the study area sourced from secondary source of data, and it revealed that Agricultural land has a total of 381.764km2 , representing 58.14% of the total land area of the region which is 656.681 km2 . Data on soil suitability for cassava farming was collected, and the result shows that high production of cassava is expected as the land area is highly suitable. A stratified method of sampling was adopted in the selection of settlements for the purpose of empirical investigation. Two settlements which represent the two types of human settlements were selected, namely; Ilaro which represents the urban town and Itolu Village which represents the rural settlement. Fifty (50) respondents were purposively selected in Ilaro and their socio-economic data revealed that low income is generated from cassava processing, while the assessment of the tourism potential at Itolu Village revealed that the potential has not been annexed for regional development. It therefore recommended that a Sub-Regional Plan should be prepared and implemented in order to achieve a sustainable socio-economic development. Abstract Keywords: Development, Plan, Rural, Sub-Region0150