Nigeria: macroeconomic environment and the perennial crops

Abstract

This paper examines the impacts of macroeconomic environment on the output performances of perennial crops – namely cocoa, rubber, palm oil and palm kernel in Nigeria. The time series data used for the analysis reveals agricultural policy/programme instability. Ordinary Least Square estimation shows that most macroeconomic policy variables – exchange rate, interest rate, government expenditure, credit are negatively related to outputs. Technological change and policy shift variables are negative for cocoa but positive for other crops. Collectively, the variables explain between 70 and 85% of the variation in the outputs of the crops considered.


Keywords: Macroeconomic environment, perennial crops, Nigeria.

[Global Jnl Agric Res Vol.2(1) 2003: 53-61]