Impact of Corporate Agriculture on Sustainable Rural Development in Nigeria

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.