Sustainable Agriculture, Food Production and Poverty Lessening in Nigeria

The challenge of persistent poverty and food insecurity in Nigeria has been an issue of concern. The government’s effort to alleviate poverty in Nigeria through agriculture appears ineffective because most poor people are rural dwellers and are coincidentally the farmers. They seem not to be benefiting from the government interventions to support farming due to corruption and other unquantifiable factors. This study investigates the impact of agricultural output and food production on poverty decrease in Nigeria. The data used in this study span from 2009 to 2019. Relevant diagnostic tests and regression analysis are performed to obtain the empirical evidence highlighted in this paper. Thus, the findings reveal that the Food Production Index significantly and positively impacts poverty reduction, while Agricultural Output has an immaterial negative effect on poverty decrease. The study concludes that poverty alleviation in Nigeria and food security will depend on government’s full involvement in agriculture and improvement on its agricultural budget. Accordingly, the provision of necessary facilities to boost agriculture have been recommended. The facilities include modern farming equipment, sufficient power supply, credit facility, storage facility, and large markets.