AGRICULTURAL MARKETING AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper examined the relationship between agricultural marketing and economic growth in Nigeria. Data were collected from 225 marketing professionals, agriculturalists and economists in some tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The simple and stratified random sampling technique was used to select the respondents for the study. The main instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire which was designed on a 4 point rating scale. The data collected were analyzed statistically using the Spearman Rank Order Correlation. The correlation of the study was done using a computer software program known as SPSS window 19.0 version. The findings revealed that there is positive and significant relationship between crop marketing and exchange rate in Nigeria. A positive and significant relationship was also found between livestock marketing and reduction in the prices of livestock products (inflation) in Nigeria. The study also found a positive and significant relationship between fish marketing and employment generation in Nigeria. It was equally confirmed that there is a significant positive relationship between forestry marketing and increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was concluded that agricultural marketing would significantly enhance economic growth in Nigeria. The study therefore recommended that Nigerian government should invest massively on the agricultural sector as it would enhance economic growth