CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
OF THE STUDY
With over 65 percent
of the world’s poor people in rural areas and most of them dependent on
farming, agriculture is critical to world economic growth, poverty reduction,
and environmental sustainability (UNDP, 2012). Agriculture is vital in achieving
global poverty reduction targets and it is still the single most important
productive sector in most low income countries like most west African countries
like Nigeria,in terms of its share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and almost
always in terms of the number of people it employs (IDA, 2009). In Nations
where the share of agriculture in overall employment is large, broad-based
growth in agricultural incomes is essential to stimulate growth in the overall
economy, including the non-farm sectors selling to rural people. Hence, the
ability of agriculture to generate overall GDP growth and its comparative
advantage in reducing poverty will vary from country to country (FAO, 2012).
The majority of the poor and food insecure in West Africa live in rural areas,
and most of them depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. To support
broad-based poverty reduction and food security in West Africa, small holder
agriculture must be a central investment focus (GARVELINK et al., 2012).
The sheer size of
agriculture in most African economies like Nigeria suggests that strategies
designed to promote the early stages of economic growth cannot ignore
agriculture. The promotion of the rural economy in a sustainable way has the
potential of increasing employment opportunities in rural areas, reducing
regional income disparities, stemming pre-mature rural-urban migration, and
ultimately reducing if not eradicating poverty at its very source (ANRÍQUEZ and
STAMOULIS, 2007). The potential of agriculture to generate a more pro-poor
growth process depends on the creation of new market opportunities that must be
of benefit to the rural poor (HANJRA and CULAS, 2011). Nigeria is a vast
agricultural country “endowed with substantial natural resources” which
include: 68 million hectares of arable land; fresh water resources covering
about 12 million hectares, 960 kilometres of coastline and an ecological
diversity which enables the country to produce a wide variety of crops and
livestock, forestry and fisheries products (AROKOYO, 2012). Poverty in Nigeria
is concentrated in rural areas, which are home to more than 65% of the nation’s
poor. Development indicators for rural areas lag behind those for urban areas:
incomes are lower, infant mortality rates are higher, life expectancy is shorter,
illiteracy is more widespread, malnutrition is more prevalent, and greater
proportions of people lack access to clean water and improved sanitation
services (TSIGAS and EHUI, 2006). One sector that has a critical role to play
in poverty reduction in
Nigeria is the agriculture sector as over 40% of the GDP comes from the sector
and it employs about 60% of the working population (NWAFOR et al., 2011).
However, the agriculture sector has the highest poverty incidence and tackling
poverty entails tackling agricultural
underdevelopment.
Economic growth in Nigeria has largely been accounted for by resilient
agricultural growth associated with performance in four constituent
sub-sectors: crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry (EBOH et al., 2012).
While the agricultural sector may have in recent years contributed
significantly to improved growth performance in Nigeria, its actual
contribution appears to be much short of overall potential.
STATEMENT
OF THE GENERAL PROBLEM
Sub-Saharan Africa
has been noted for the prevalence of poverty for more than a decade now despite
the abundance of both human and material resources in this region. Poverty in
countries of this region is massive, pervasive and chronic, engulfing a large
proportion of the society. The concern about poverty in most of these
countries, including Nigeria, has been very tremendous. Resulting from
large-scale poverty, human conditions in Nigeria have greatly deteriorated.
Real disposable incomes have dwindled while malnutrition rates are on the increase
(Aluko, 2003). For most Nigerians, poverty is endemic, real and devastating to
the extent that it has become a walking being in urban and rural streets of the
country. For a large percentage of the population, there is
no food, housing,
health, and security. Life in Nigeria involves a daily struggle against
inhumanity by man, hunger and inadequate housing and health facilities. By
1998, estimates of the Nigerian Human Development Report (NHDR) put the number
of Nigerians living in poverty at 48.5%. Between 1980 and the 1990, Nigerian
experience worsened as the incidence of poverty rose from 46.3% of the
population in 1985 to 65.6% in 1996. The vast majority of the people have
little or no access to the social amenities. In Nigeria, there is no social
welfare network to ameliorate the condition of the poor. The poor depend
largely and mostly on relations and friends for a bit of sustenance. Poverty in
Nigeria is a major macroeconomic problem which has assumed an endemic
height. Programmes to
eradicate poverty include and are not limited to deliberate industrialization,
agricultural investment and intensification bygovernment and the private
sector, small scale industries, development and investment in education.
PURPOSE
OF THE STUDY
The major aim of the
study is to examine agricultural funding, poverty reduction and economic
growth. Other general objectives of the study include;
1. To examine the
level of poverty in Nigeria.
2. To assess the
impact of economic growth on poverty reduction in Nigeria.
3. To determine the
relationship between agricultural funding, poverty reduction and economic
growth in Nigeria.
4. To study the level
of agricultural funding in Nigeria.
5. To recommend ways
of improving agricultural funding, reducing poverty and improving the economy
of Nigeria.
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
1. What is the level
of poverty in Nigeria?
2. What is the impact
of economic growth on poverty reduction in Nigeria?
3. What is the
relationship between agricultural funding, poverty reduction and economic
growth ion Nigeria?
4. What is the level
of agricultural funding in Nigeria?
5. What are the ways
of improving agricultural funding,reducing poverty and improving the economy of
Nigeria?
RESEARCH
HYPOTHESES
H0: There is no
significant relationship between agricultural funding and poverty reduction in
Nigeria.
H1: There is a
significant relationship between agricultural funding and poverty reduction in
Nigeria.
H0: There is no
significant relationship between agricultural funding and economic growth in
Nigeria.
H1: There is a
significant relationship between agricultural funding and economic growth in
Nigeria.
SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE STUDY
The study would be of
immense importance towards the development of the agricultural sector in
Nigeria which happens to be a critical sector in the
economy, the study
would also benefit government at all levels, policy makers and all related
stakeholders in their quest for poverty eradication and
economic growth in
Nigeria. The study wouls also benefit students,researchers and scholars who are
interested in developing further studies on the subject
matter.
SCOPE
AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This study is
restricted to agricultural funding, poverty eradication and economic growth in
Nigeria using the Lagos state ministry of agriculture, Lagos state.
LIMITATION
OF THE STUDY
Financial constraint-
Insuicient
fund tends to impede
the eiciency
of the researcher in
sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in
the process of data
collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The
researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work.
This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for
the research work.