TITLE:
Impact of Corporate Agriculture on Sustainable Rural Development in Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Eneji Mathias Agri, Odey Francis Acha, Gukat Olivia Bonmwa Tontu
KEYWORDS:
Agricultural Industry, Local Content, Capital Allocation, Returns on Investment, Employment and Poverty Reduction
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.3 No.4,
April
21,
2016
ABSTRACT:
This study sets out to investigate whether corporate agriculture has any
significant impact on Nigeria’s economy. The dimensions of impact assessed are
mainly capital investment, private sector’s participation, employment and rural
resource/infrastructural development. We used descriptive statistics and simple
percentages for evaluation. Secondary data from the Nigerian Stock Exchange
were collected, sorted, classified and used for the analysis, with extensive literature
review. The study finds that corporate agriculture has significant positive impact
on the economy, but the subsector is still under-invested and under-utilized.
Government policies had not encouraged large scale investment in corporate agriculture;
rather it has only favored official funding of agricultural programs creating
loopholes for mismanagement of huge agricultural resources and wastages. The
implications are obvious; including unemployment, food insecurity and rural poverty.
Our limitation is with respect to inaccurate, up-to-date secondary data.
However, this limitation does not invalidate our findings. We recommend
corporate agriculture, policy reforms and accelerated investment in the sector
through public-private partnership. We also recommend a bridge in
infrastructure gap between rural and urban geography in a comprehensive
rural-urban integration program. We conclude that Nigeria can achieve food
security and also contribute to food security in other countries through exports
and foreign exchange.