Name Mr. OSSAI OSSAI THEOPHILUS
Post/Status Assistant Lecturer
Email theophilus.ossai@unidel.edu.ng
Telephone 8034900606
Nationalty NIGERIA
Background Nigeria is a vast and fast growing agricultural country, endowed with substantial natural resources which include: 68 million hectares of arable land, fresh water resources covering about 12.6 million hectares, 960km of coastline and an ecological diversity which breeds a wide variety of crops and livestock, forestry and fisheries products. Available statistics show that agriculture is the most important Nigerian economy sector after oil in terms of immense contributions to the GDP. The sector evidently contributes about 40% of the country's GDP, employs about 65% of the total population. Despite the articulation of government policies, strategies and programs of sustainable agriculture and pro-poor rural development, the rural economies of Nigeria remain undoubtedly underdeveloped and many complex issues regarding the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation remain unresolved. This study consequently examined the relationship between sustainable agriculture and rural development in Nigeria. A rector auto regression analytical technique (VAR) was employed for the empirical study. The prior expectation is that sustainable agriculture will impact positively on rural development which constitute about 70% of Nigeria population. The results of the findings show that the past values of agricultural output could be used to predict the future behaviour of rural development in Nigeria. While agriculture remains dominant in the Nigeria economy, it is unsustainable because food supply is not adequate and affordable for the average citizens and so rural development is fast deteriorating. The findings and the conclusion of the study suggested the need for the policy makers to promote agriculture to a sustainable level, and this would enhance rural development, because oil would expire someday.
Education B.Sc - Mgt. -University of Nigeria, Nsukaa. M.Sc - Cooperative Economics& Management. Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. P.HD in view- Cooperative Economics & Management, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.