Economic Diverification in Nigeria: Agriculture in Perspective

This study examines economic diversification: agricultural in perceptive. In particular the study examines the impact of investment in agricultural sector in achieving economic diversification between periods spanning from the years 2000 to year 2022. Time series secondary data were sourced from Central Bank Statistical Bulletin (2022) and World Bank Development Indicators (2024). Autoregressive Distributed Lag Regression Estimate (ARDL) analysis was conducted with the aid of E-view 10. Findings of this study reveals that agriculture credit guarantee scheme fund for cash crops and livestock have negative and significant impact on economic diversification. More so, agriculture credit guarantee scheme fund for food crops equally has negative and insignificant impact on economic diversification. However, grand total of agriculture credit guarantee scheme fund on agricultural commodities has positive and insignificant impact on economic diversification. Based on study findings, the following recommendations are suggested; that governments at all levels should as a matter of urgency should sustain funding of agriculture sectors and provide necessary infrastructure in the rural areas where majorities of agricultural activities take place in order to diversify her economy. More so, stakeholders in the agricultural sectors mainly the farmers should take advantage of loanable fund available to them and channelled it to appropriate crops that will yield investment return. In addition, it is also recommended that monetary policy authority should look inward to determine why agricultural credit guarantee scheme fund has negative significant impact on all the three categories of agricultural commodities identified. This can be achieved through close monitoring and adequate supervision of the loan disburse to the direct beneficiaries. Lastly, investment in human capacity in agricultural sector is away forward for economic diversification.