Nigeria’s Long-Term Socio-Economic Development: Exploring the Agriculture Value Chain Pathway

Abstract

This study investigated the role of agriculture in enhancing socio-economic development in Nigeria, using the ex-post facto research design. It utilized secondary data from 1981 to 2022, which were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, and the World Bank. The secondary data were analyzed using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation technique. The result showed that the agricultural sector output has a positive and significant impact on socio-economic development in Nigeria. Other results showed that industrial output and services output have a positive and significant effect on economic development in Nigeria. The study concluded that the agricultural value chain is crucial in achieving socio-economic development in Nigeria. Thus, the study recommended that the government should invest heavily in the agricultural sector by increasing the budgetary allocation and providing basic infrastructure to the sector for improved productivity.