Evaluation of Agricultural Policies and Programmes for Sustainable Future Farming Intensification in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria is enthusiastic with strong ambition and immense potential, which has been manifested in various agricultural frameworks and policies. Most of the agricultural frameworks and policies are meant by the government to attain food self-sufficiency and rapid economic development. Several studies have explored historical trends of government interventions and liberalization in the agricultural sector. However, the objective of the government has not been attained as a result of trajectory in efficient implementations of agricultural policies in the country. This paper therefore primarily aims at evaluating the agricultural policies and programmes for sustainability of future farming in Nigeria with specific focus on various determinants of sustainability of the agricultural sector, which will consequently bring food self-sufficiency, create employment, and bring about rapid economic growth in the country. The methodology used is qualitative content analysis of secondary data. The first part of the findings demonstrated that there is need to fill the gap in the existing agricultural frameworks and policies towards making future farming sustainable in the country. The second part of the result indicated that sustainability of agricultural sector for future farming intensification focused on the improvement of some major aspects such as viable implementation of agricultural policy, productive land for agricultural productivity, and government inputs to the farmers in reviving the agricultural sector. It is also noted that the interventions of the government through the building of shopping malls and establishment of national markets for marketability of various products such as groundnut, palm oil, rubber, cocoa, among others, can be instrumental in achieving sustainable future farming food domestic food production to attain food self-sufficiency and rapid economic development. In conclusion, the study showed that the implementation of agricultural policy is meaningful, and it can foster the sustainability of farming specifically in adequately utilizing unused land across the country. It is therefore suggested that the government needs to improve the input subsidies and to establish various national markets for selling different by-products and many others in order to achieve sustainability of the agricultural sector for future farming in the country.