A CRITICAL INVESTIGATION OF AGRICULTURE AND ITS IMPACTS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

Background to the Study: Agriculture comes from the Latin words "ager," which means "field," and "cultura," which means "cultivation." This shows that crop cultivation was the oldest type of agriculture (Are, Igbokwe, Asadu, Bawa, 2010; Erebor, 2003). It's worth noting that agriculture encompasses more than just agricultural cultivation. It also involves animal production, primary product processing (or value addition), and produce and product marketing. Agriculture, according to Erebor (2003), is the art and science of cultivating the land, processing crops and livestock products for human use, and selling surplus crops and cattle. Meanwhile, (Kricher,1997) defines agriculture as "the simplification of nature's food webs and the rerouting of energy for human planting and animal consumption."

To put it another way, agriculture entails rerouting the natural flow of the food chain. The natural flow of the food web is that the sun supplies light to plants, which converts that light into sugars, which the plants use as food (this process is called photosynthesis). Herbivores (plant-eating animals) eat plants, and herbivores eat herbivores, and carnivores eat herbivores (meat-eating animals). This simple food network image serves as a starting point for examining the influence of agriculture on economic growth. Agricultural revolution is a vital pre-condition for economic expansion, especially in emerging nations, according to literature and economic history. Agriculture's contribution to overall economic growth and modernisation has been the focus of development economists.

According to Todaro and Smith (2003), the undeveloped economy is divided into two sectors, based on Lewis' theory of development. The traditional agricultural sector, which has zero marginal labor productivity, and the contemporary industrial sector are the two sectors in question. Agricultural revolutions are a prerequisite for take-off and take-off phases in Rostow's linear stages of economic progress. The significance of a thriving and flourishing agriculture is reflective of its role in providing job opportunities for the burgeoning population, eradicating poverty, and contributing to economic prosperity. The literature on the relationship between agricultural and economic growth is extensive (Ogen, 2007; Okongwu, 1986; Atte and Muhammed- Lawal, 2006 to maintain few). Agriculture, according to Izuchukwu (2011), has been the backbone of the Nigerian economy, providing employment and a means of sustenance for the country's growing population, accounting for more than half of the country's GDP at the time of independence in 1960.

However, due to the dominance of the crude oil industry in the economy, its importance in the country's regional and economic growth has dwindled over time. With rising food demand in Nigeria, the country has the natural resources and potential to increase crop production volume in order to fulfill the food and nutritional needs of the country's fast growing population and ensure food security (Todaro and Smith, 2003). As a result, agriculture is the primary source of national prosperity. Without a doubt, the neglect of agriculture in Nigeria as a result of the finding of oil has slowed the country's economic progress in recent decades. The impact of this neglect could be felt in people's low quality of life, as the ordinary Nigerian was described as surviving on US$ 1 per day, which translates to N165 per day in today's Naira. It's not unreasonable to conclude that such a comment is a political ruse. A better, more honest, and realistic assessment of the situation would place an average income of US $0-0.5 per day on the faces we see daily on our streets and those we may not be able to see because of their inability to muster enough strength to walk up to the street as a result of several days of hunger and starvation, or even food-related ill-health and avoidable deaths of tens of people every day.

According to studies, seven out of ten Nigerians live in abysmal poverty, unable to feed, clothe, or shelter themselves (Ogen, 2007). Nigeria and her Sub-Saharan African neighbors have been dubiously dubbed as citadels of hunger, poverty, illiteracy, illnesses, suffering, debts, filths, and crises by the world's political and economic forces. Unless individuals and governments in this doomed section of the global village take sensible steps, this undeniable imagery will remain imprinted in the world's archives for a long time. The study's goal is to evaluate the influence of agriculture on economic growth in this context.