The Nigerian Agricultural Sector: Analysis of Influential Impediment Factors to Its Growth, Development and Prospects for Improvements

Abstract

This work interrogates the nature and structure of the Agricultural Sector in Nigeria, focusing on the historical trend of its growth, development, decline, and prospects of improving the sector in due course. The study further embarked on a comparative analysis of the country’s agricultural patterns with those of the advanced economies in order to articulate/draw out the strengths and weaknesses of the traditional practices which to a large extent have affected its long-term potentiality of not just feeding the nation’s citizenry but equally attracting measurable contribution to the nation’s economic development and improving the GDP of the country. The work progresses analytically by probing into the influential impediment factors which have affected its growth and development over the years through a historical methodology. In the long run, the work trails to an end by envisaging the prospects of the sector, and efforts made by the federal government of Nigeria as well as the private sector to ensure the steady revival of the sector. The work is structured into (i) Introduction, (ii) Nigeria’s Agricultural Sector in Historical Perspective (iii) Importance of Agricultural Sector to the Nigerian Economy (iv) A comparative Analysis between Production/Manufacturing Potentiality of Agricultural Products in EDCs and LDCs (v) Research Findings: Factors of Influential Impediments to Growth and Development of the Agricultural Sector Challenges (vi) Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations.