Agricultural Expenditure and Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria

Poverty in Nigeria is recognized as mostly rural phenomenon and agriculture has been highlighted as the sector that could best touch the poor as it is at the heart of the livelihoods of the rural people. Nigeria, popularly known as the giant of Africa and rich in numerous human and material resources, is seen to have greater part of its population living in abject poverty and this condition remains unacceptable at all levels. The main objective of this paper was to investigate the relationship between expenditure on agriculture and poverty alleviation in Nigeria. Time series data were used for the study from 1980 – 2012 sourced majorly from Central Bank publications and World Development Indicators. Findings show a clear but insignificant response of poverty reduction to agricultural growth. It was also found that the dismal performance of the sector is largely responsible for its insignificant positive impact on poverty. Policy recommendations include increase in government budgetary allocation to the sector as well as proper monitoring and constant review of policies/programmes in the agricultural sector of the economy