The Economic Significance of Agriculture for Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Abstract

This study empirically investigates the agriculture-economic growth nexus in Nigeria. An economic growth model for Nigeria is specified and estimated through the use of Ordinary Least Squares as well as Johansen Cointegration and Vector Error Correction Model on annual data spanning from 1980 to 2012. The empirical result suggests that Agriculture is positively associated with economic growth in Nigeria. Results from this study also indicates that increasing the population of agriculture labour force will impact positively on economic growth. However, Infrastructure and human capital are found to be the key determinants of Nigeria‘s economic growth in the period under review. This study suggests that Nigeria policymakers should develop strategies that are geared towards infrastructure and human capital development in order to maximize the potential of the agricultural sector.

Keywords

• agriculture
• infrastructure
• human capital
• economic growth
• nigeria