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The Impact Of Agricultural Development On Nigeria Economic Growth
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1.2. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The
agricultural sector has suffered from years of poor management,
inconsistent and poorly implemented government policies, government
neglect and lack of basic infrastructure. Presently, it accounts for
40.6% of GDP and 65% of employment in the economy, (A.B. Sekumade, 2009,
United States Department of State, 2005). Nigeria is no longer a major
exporter of cocoa, groundnut, rubber and palm products. Cocoa
production mostly from obsolete varieties and over-aged trees is
stagnant at around 150,000 tonnes annually, 25 years ago, cocoa
production was 300,000 tonnes. There has been a similar decline in
groundnut, palm oil and the other major export crops (United States
Department of State, 2005). The decline in agricultural production was
largely due to the rise of oil shipments (A.B. Sekumade, 2009).
Because
of this backdrop, agriculture has not kept up with the rapid population
growth and Nigeria once a large net exporter of food now imports most
of its food requirements.
Dependence on oil is not the only cause of the under-development of the Nigerian agricultural sector, but also:
Falusi
and Olayiole (1980) observed that Nigerian agriculture is characterized
by illiterate farmers who live in rural areas producing over 90% of the
total food consumed and other agricultural products and with regards to
their educational status give little or no room for improvement
through scientific research. Olayemi (1985) noted that more than 90% of
the consumed food in Nigeria is provided by the small-scale farmers.
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Again, the bulk of agricultural activities are done using crude
implements which are relatively less efficient when compared with modern
machineries such as tractors, ploughs etc.
- Another problem is
the issue of finance. The agricultural sector is poorly financed.
They do not get credit easily from financial institutions, like
commercial banks. The agriculturists find it difficult to finance
projects which are capital intensive. The commercial banks cannot grant
loans easily to a small scale farmer because of low produce and low
profit which result to a failure in paying back the loan.
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lack of storage facilities have led to much wastage and high cost of
storage. This hinders the availability of some perishable agricultural
produce through the year, thereby hindering agricultural development.
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Dependence on weather is another problem that affects the increase in
agricultural produce. Agriculturists still depend on rainfall to
produce instead of the use of irrigation that supply water all through
the year.
With all that has been said above, it is obvious that the
agricultural sector, being one of the real sectors of the Nigerian
economy, has got a lot to contribute to its economic growth. But these
are not attainable because of the multifarious problems besieging this
sector of the economy.
This work therefore is geared towards answering the patent question:
What
impact has the agricultural sector made in the face of the dire need
for food security, employment creation and in all increased economic
growth of Nigeria?
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
broad objective of this study is to determine the extent to which
agricultural development influences economic growth in Nigeria.
1) To determine the cause of decline in agricultural production today.
1.4 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS
For the purpose of this study, the following hypothesis is tested;
Ho – Agricultural development has no significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria.
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
significance of this work lies on the fact that with improved
agriculture, the Nigerian economy stands to gain in its efforts towards
development. This study attempts to answer the question; what is the
relevance of agriculture in economic growth, the cause of agricultural
decline and how the present state of our agricultural productivity will
be improved.
This will form the basis upon which suggestions will be made as to how the full potentials of agriculture can be harnessed.
This work stands to benefit:
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Nigeria as a whole. The research intends to bring forth ways to
increase agricultural output both for the purposes of consumption and
exportation which ultimately will bring an increased favourable Balance
of Payment for the nation.
- The research will be beneficial to
schools (teachers and students) and will help them understand the
importance of farming no matter how small the scale of production.
1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
This study focuses on Nigeria and on the impact of agricultural development on the economic growth of Nigeria.
The
originality and reliability of any study or research work is based on
the quantity and quality of available data. Though it is the duty and
intention of any researcher to bring out and show everything the study
is to have, but there are constraints which include, time, finance,
difficulty in getting data, etc.
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