ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to determine the role of agriculture in economic growth and poverty reduction in Nigeria. The data used were collected from the statistical bulletin of the Central Bank. of Nigeria and World Bank's development indicators, and covered the period of 33 years ranging from 1981 to 2014. Multiple regression was used to analyze the data. The result showed that agriculture has significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria. It was also showed that agriculture has significant impact on poverty reduction in Nigeria. The other variable included in the model which is non-agricultural output did not have significant impact on poverty reduction. The study therefore recommends among others that government provides more funding for agricultural universities in Nigeria to carry out researches on all area of agricultural production; this will lead to more exports and improvement in the competitiveness of Nigeria agriculture production in international markets, The Central bank of Nigeria should also come up with a stable policy for loan disbursement to farmers at a reasonable interest payback.