Role Of Agriculture In The Economic Development

In terms of pace of the sector development and contribution to the industrialization, the agricultural sector in this part of the world is still lagging behind because of its failure to produce the food to the level of marketable surplus to feed itself, the other sectors (above subsistence  level) and provide the inputs required for the industrial development of the  nation  and  consequent growth in foreign exchange earnings though export and conservation of foreign exchange through imports substitution of competitive imports. As long as it has been established that developing countries like Nigeria has comparative advantage over the other countries in the production of agricultural output than the industrialized countries, it is important to emphasize that there is need for such economy to focused its attention on the agriculture sector development so that it can spur development of the nation. This is the only sector that provides the ready-made means for country like Nigeria to facilitate industrial development because all the other sectors directly or indirectly depend on agriculture either for food to sustain their workforces or as  crucial input in their production process. Meanwhile, the sector can do this by supplying relatively cheap food to the urban industrial sector to check inflationary tendency of workers wages where inadequate food supply may lead to rising food prices as a result industrial unrest as worker continue to demand for increase in wages to meet basic needs of life. Importation of food is not viable for any ambitious country for several reasons which might be political, economical and strategic reasons. So, it is needful of agricultural sector to provide food beyond the subsistence level (marketable surplus). In a nutshell, the prominent role expected to be of agricultural sector in developing country like Nigeria cannot be over emphasized. There is no gain saying that agricultures play significant role in the development process. Consideration of the role the sector plays as the way of life in the developing countries like Nigeria and the critical role expected of the agricultural sector makes it imperative to study the sector and look at the policy implication for the achievement of socio-economic objectives of the nation. This  study is structured into five sections,  section two reviews  the key terms of the study and the roles play by the sector. Section three presents the methodology and framework of the model while section four carried out the stylised fact and the econometrics analysis. Section five, identified the barriers to agricultural performances and proffers necessary recommendations.

1.1 Statement of the Problem

Agriculture is one of Nigeria’s real sector capable of fostering economic growth. The sector is a catalyst, that is, it is a propagator of growth which can trickle down to other sectors and thus bring about development.

In Nigeria, agriculture has undergone neglect in the form of poor management, poorly implemented government policies and lack of basic infrastructure necessary for better performance. Nigeria’s economy can be described as an agricultural economy even before independence and till date, a greater part of the population is engaged in agricultural practice.

Agriculture employs over 65 percent of the labour force, contributes immensely to gross domestic product and generates revenue for government through export.

Despites these benefits, there is more that can be derived howbeit, there is a dwindling interest in the sector. In 1980, government expenditure (recurrent) in education was N155.81m, N52.79m for health, transport and communications received N27.30m but government recurrent expenditure on agriculture was a meager N17.14m for that period. This amount decreased to N13.03m in the preceeding year, N14.80m in 1982, N12.77m in 1983 before rising again to N20.69m in 1986 and N46.15m in 1987 which cannot be compared with N225.01

 A further review reveals that in 2000, the federal recurrent expenditure shows that N15.218m was spent on health, N57,956.64m was spent on education, N25, 154.67m on internal security and N6,335.78m was sparingly given to agriculture.

Another problem facing this sector can be seen in the amount of farmland cultivated. In 1990, 82 million hectares of Nigeria’s total land area of about 91 million hectares were found arable even though42% of the cultivated area was farmed.

Nigeria’s cocoa output has declined with a potential of producing 300,000 tons per year, but in 1999 145,000 tons was produced. There is how investment in agriculture. The potential of the sector is barely tapped which explains the gap in meeting the increasing demand for agriculture commodities. Credit facility is difficult to obtain. This hinders the shift from crude implement to sophisticated farming machines. These problems necessitated this study to determine the role of Nigeria’s agriculture in development.

1.2   Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this study is to examine the role of agriculture in the economic development.  The specific objectives of this study includes the following

1.     To determine the relationship between agriculture and LNGDP

2.     To determine the relationship between agriculture and LNGCF

3.     To determine the relationship between agriculture and LNENR

4.    To determine the relationship between agriculture and LNAGO

1.3   RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The operational hypothesis to support the research work is hereby stated thus;

H0: There is no significant relationship between agriculture and LNGDP

H0: There is no significant relationship between agriculture and LNGCF

H0: There is no significant relationship between agriculture and LNENR

H0: There is no significant relationship between agriculture and LNAGO

1.4   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

A flourishing agricultural sector can offer a lot towards economic development. The study aims to provide answers to what the relevance of agriculture is to economic development, the causes of agricultural decline and how the present agricultural productivity will be improved in order to create more job opportunities, foreign exchange, investment opportunities for overall economic development.

The research is significant as it stands to benefit Nigeria as a whole. The research intends to bring out ways to improve on agriculture for development through increased agricultural investment, research in finding solutions to problem facing agriculture for development in Nigeria.

1.5   SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study is Nigeria and focus on the role of the Nigerian agriculture in development. The originality and reliability of any study or research work is based on the quantity and quality of available data. Hence, this research work is constrained by several factors including availability of data in sufficient quantity, time constraint as well as sufficient finance to complete the project write up.

1.6   DEFINITION OF TERMS

There are some terms that are used in this study that require an explanation. The meaning of the concepts as it is portrayed in this study is necessary for comprehension.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is the occupation of cultivating land and rearing crops and livestock, farming,. It is also the art or science of cultivating the ground, including the harvesting of crops and the rearing and management of livestock, tillage, husbandry, and farming.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY

Agricultural productivity is the rate of agricultural commodities to the rate of inputs used in production. It is the ratio of output to input in the agricultural production process.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Economic development is a sustained concerted action of policy makers and communities that promote the living standard and economic health of an economy. It is also the quantitative and qualitative changes in an economy.

POVERTY

Poverty according to the United Nations (2010) is the inability of getting choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit.

The World Bank (2010) defines poverty as pronounced deprivation in well-being and comprises low incomes and the inability to acquire basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity.

UNEMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYMENT

Unemployment is the state of being without work but actively seeking or searching for work or waiting to return to work.

Employment is the state of having jobs and performing any paid work.