POLICY REFORMS AND AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS IN NIGERIA: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

The role of agriculture in the process of growth and development arises mainly from its linkages with other sectors of an economy. The agricultural sector in developing countries in recent times has recorded secular declines in terms of its contribution to export earning and domestic consumption. This observation is associated with policy inertia among other factors. The Structural Adjustment Programme adopted in Nigeria in the 1980s, is one policy shift aimed at boosting agricultural production. This article aims at empirically verifying the effects of policy reform on agricultural exports in Nigeria by estimating a simple impact assessment model using a slope-dummy method. The estimates among others indicate that agricultural export is significantly influenced by domestic consumption and economic liberalization. The findings suggest that policy reforms on agricultural productivity should go beyond liberalization of the economy.