ABSTRACT

In recent decades, the main and potential contribution of agriculture to economic growth has been a subject of much controversy among development economists. As some contend that agricultural development is a pre-condition for industrialization, others strongly object it and argue for a different path. This study tries to look at the drivers of Agricultural development and its economic effect in Nigeria from 1970-2015 which will enable us proffer solution to Agricultural development in the economy since it is an important component of any economic growth of any country. Taking advantage of ordinary least square method (OLS), the research carried out by means of secondary data and using the independent variables, Improved Agricultural Inputs (IAI), Real Exchange Rate (REXR), Real Interest Rate (RINTR) Government Expenditure in Agriculture (GEA) and Total credit to the Agricultural sector (ACCESS) to re-examine the question of whether agriculture could serve as an engine of Economic growth in Nigeria. The result gotten from the empirical analysis shows that the productivity in agricultural sector has appreciably affected positively on the economic growth in Nigeria.