GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON AGRICULTURE

ABSTRACT

This study examined the relationship between agricultural output, government expenditure on agriculture and economic growth in Nigeria. Employing the Ordinary Least Squares technique to test the long run relationship and the Error Correction Mechanism for the relationship in the short run,  the unit root test of series and the cointegration tests for a period of 1981 to 2020 in the Nigerian economy, a significant relationship was found to exist between agricultural output and economic growth in both long and short run. A negative relationship was however found between government expenditure on agriculture and economic growth in Nigeria in both short run and long run. The granger causality result showed a bi-directional causality between agricultural output and economic growth in Nigeria. The study recommends the vigorous pursuit of the efficiency of the agricultural sector by enhancing financing to the sector, mechanization through public -private partnership and infrastructural development to engender access to farmlands and boost productivity. The overdependence on oil will undermine the development of the agricultural sector and its positive impact on growth.