ABSTRACT
In Nigeria, the level of agricultural productivity and farmers’ income have been affected by inadequate financing, which invariably discourages job creation and increases unemployment rate. Therefore, the study examines the impact of agricultural financing on employment generation in Nigeria, using time series data collected from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the World Bank database from 1985 to 2020. Using Johansen’s co-integration, Error Correction Method (ECM), and Granger causality analytical techniques, our findings show that public expenditure on agriculture, bank Lending to agriculture and exchange rate have a longrun relationship with UNEMPR and are statistically significant. Also, the ECM of about 57%, which is statistically significant, provides an indication of a satisfactory speed of adjustment and meant that about 57 percent of the errors are corrected in the next period. The study recommends among others that government policy on agricultural credit should place more emphasis on strengthening banks’ commitment to agricultural financing.
Keywords: agricultural financing, agricultural production, financial markets,
growth rate, unemployment rate
