A Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Performance between the Military and Civilian Regimes in Nigeria

The paper examines and compares the performance of the agricultural sector during the Military and the Civilian Regimes in Nigeria. It also compares the proportion of public expenditures on agriculture with the allocations to other sectors of the economy such as Education, Health and Transport. The paper adopts a descriptive approach and the findings show that there is a direct relationship between the proportion of public expenditure and agricultural performance and that public expenditure on the Agricultural Sector lags behind the expenditures on these other sectors. The paper also shows that the Agricultural Sector received more percentage of public expenditure during the Civilian regime but the contribution of agriculture to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was higher during the Military than the Civilian regime. This shows that the performance of agriculture is not only a function of the proportion of public expenditure, but a combination of factors such as judicious use of the resources, the quality of agricultural policies/programmes embarked upon, among others. The paper therefore recommends increased budgetary allocation to the Agricultural Sector as well as its proper and judicious use to guarantee poverty reduction, sustainable livelihood and enhanced food security.