THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY: Principles and Consequences.

A review of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Community has become very imPerative now that the countries of Europe have proposed further integration of their economies come 1992. This is more so when one of the general concerns outside the European Community is that the developing countries, especially those in Africa, will suffer most since such integration might usher in an era of difficult economic relcttions with the community as trade transactions might have to be conducted over high tariff wall. Thus a revi~w of this article "The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Community: Principles and Consequences" will certainly make one more conversant with the operations of the policy·and therefore be in a position to offer suggestions that could be considered to protect the Nigerian agricultural sector (if need be) from the general concern expressed the world over (outside the European Community) on the probable adverse consequences on the peveloping countriesof a further integration of the European Countries economies in 1992

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs)

This paper highlighted the importance of the family in the society as well as the negative impact poverty, war and diseases can have on the development of the family. It went on to review the eight MDGs set in 2000 for attainment on or before 2015 which also targeted the most vulnerable groups in the family (the women and children). Available data from the World Bank and the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that though substantial progress has been made towards attaining the various targets set for the MDGs but, only MDG Goal 3/Target 3A, aimed at gender parity in primary and secondary school was fully met in Nigeria in 2012 as indicated by NBS 2014 national survey results of 1.0 and 1.02 ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary school at the national level. Nigeria did not meet fully all of the other MDG goals and targets and actually retarded rather than progress with respect to MDG Goal 1/Target 1A, Goal 6/Target 6A and Goal 7/Target 7C. Proportion of the population that had access to improved sanitation facilities for instance, actually declined from 37 per cent in 1990 to 28 per cent in 2012 in Nigeria rather than increase by 50 per cent from the 1990 level. Therefore, a lot still needs to be done in Nigeria and most other developing countries, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa, in order to assist families in this part of the world to be able to contribute their quota to economic development in their environment and the world at large. More investments are needed in the education and health sectors and priorities must be given to the vulnerable groups (women and children) as well as very poor families who performed worse

APPRAISAL OF INFORMAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

Before appraising the informal economic activities in the agricultural sector it may be necessary first to decipher what constitutes an informal economic activity. This can be i~fe rred from the definition of the informal sector although there does not seem to be a consensus yet on the exact definition of the term. Perhaps, the pioneering work of Hart (1973) which defines an informal sector as where income is derived from self employment could be a good basis. According to Obadan et. al. (1996), the works of Sethurama (1976, 1990), Hug an (1971 }, Charmes (1990), Bromey (1979), Macgraffey and Windsperger (1990) and others have adopted variants of employment/income based classification that are similar to that of Hart. However, the most frequently adopted definition is that from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) (1976); which defines informal enterprises as those that employ a handful of workers, who earn low income, utilize rudimentary or subsistence technology and operate largely outside the boundaries of government regulations governing businesses in general. This definition by the ILO aptly describes most of the activities in the agricultural sector in Nigeria, which ·is still largely peasantry, relaying on rudimentary technology, employing mainly family labour and operated on small scale

POVERTY ALLEVIATION THROUGH AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS: A REVIEW OF THE CONCEPT OF THE WORLD BANK-ASSISTED AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECfS IN NIGERIA.

The Agricultural Development Project (ADP) concept has been used as the primary method to increase production q.nd welfare in the smallholder agricultural sector in Nigeria. This was done through the provision of farm and crop development programmes and services. rural infrastructures, institution building, human resource development, and substantial technical assistance. Since 1974, The World Bank has given substantial support to this programme. The earliest ADPs were restricted in their coverage to specific areas within some states and were called enclave projects. The federal and state governments were impressed with the results of the enclave projects. This led to pressure to expand the enclave projects and to have ADPs in those states which had not yet benefited. State-wide ADP projects managed under the same semi-autonomous agency concept were developed, followed by ·the three nwlti-state ADPs (MSADP I, 3, 3), and the present sector- and subsector approach with the ADPs as the main delivery agents. The ADP concept represents a clear shift from capital intensive investment projects for selected high-potential areas to a development of the country's small holder sector in the drive to enhance rural income andalleviate poverty

An Empirical Analysis of The Prices of Nigeria's Agricultural Export Commodities:

The study examines the role of price incentives in expanding agricultural commodity exports. Using the concept of efficiency, based on the theory of opportunity cost, nominal and effective protection coefficients (NPC & EPC) were estimated for cocoa, coffee, cotton, palm kernel, palm oil, rubber and soyabean. Their world market prices served as the efficiency benchmarks in order to determine the pattern of incentives or disincentives to the Nigerian agricultural export sector. The NPC values obtained ranged from 0.47 for cotton to 1.18 for soyabean pre-Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and during the SAP the values ranged from 0. 63 to 2.14 f or the respective crops. This result confirmed that incentives improved substantially for export crop production during the SAP. The result of the EPC analysis complemented that of the NPC which indicated that incentives were more in favour of the production of soyabean, a non-traditional export crop in Nigeria. Consequently, the study concluded that the programme for boosting industrial and export crop production recently launched by the Federal Government should emphasise the production of soyabean in order to diversify our agricultural export base, along with palm produce and rubber particularly now that oilseeds and rubber have better prospects in the world market

DATA PROBLEMS IN THE REAL SECTOR AND HOW TO SOLVE THEM

Data as defined by a dictionary: 1 are facts given, from which others may be inferred. ln other words data can be seen as basic element of information which when processed and structured, supply other information which aid policy makers in their short-term operational and long-term strategic plan formulation, decision-making, monitoring and evaluation process. Thus the importance of data for the purpose of planning and monitoring socio-economic and political activities at both the macro and micro levels of any society cannot be over-emphasized. The Central Bank of Nigeria in its role as a principal advisory organ to the Federal Government of Nigeria generates and gathers a lot of data and info rmation for the purpose of monitoring, appraising and evaluating developme nts in the various sectors of the economy. The Real Sector Division of the Research Department, Central Bank of Nigeria is charged with the responsibility of monitoring and evaluating developments in the productive sectors of the economy. These functions are carried out by the four offices in the Division, namely: Agr icultural Studies office, the Industrial Studies office, the Economic Conditions office and the Social Sectors Studies office. A brief exposition on the functions of these four offices gives an insight into the enormous data needs of this very large division of the Research Department

DIVERSIFICATION OF THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY: AGRICULTURE AND SOLID MINERALS AS PANACEA*

Diversification of the Nigerian economy with specific emphasis agricultural and solid mineral sectors is feasible in view of Nigeria's endowment. Nigeria has a large expanse of agricultural land. This 77.7 per cent of Nigeria's tota l land area which is 910.8 thousand kilometres. Of this total, 37.3 per cent is arable land, 7.4 per cent is permanent crop and 9.0 percent is under forest. Therefore, substantial still available for agricultural activities. Most importantly, Nigeria's a diverse, which include four sub-sectors, namely; crop, livestock, fishery forestry which are yet to be ful ly exploited. In the same vein, Nigeria is bl with a wide variety of solid minerals which are widely distributed in the states of the Federation. So far, about 33 solid mineral commott occurring in about 450 locations nationwide have been identified. include coal, cassiterite (tin ore), columbite, marble, tantalite, wolfram, lead, zinc, limestone, kaolin, clay, shales, and radioactive minerals monazite, zircon, molybdelite and barytes. Others are glass sand, sand, uranium, serpentine, phosphate, cuprite, granite, talc ore, feldspar, bentonite, soda ash, iron ore, dolomite, etc. Thus, Nigeria with most of the mineral raw materials needed as inputs for production. An effective partnership between government and the sector in exploiting these abundant agricultural and solid mineral which are well distributed all over the country, will certainly put Nigeria part of sustainable growth and development

AFRICA REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND CHALLENGES OF GLOBALISATION: A REVIEW OF THE NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR AFRICA DEVELOPMENT (NEPAD)

Essentially, globalization has meant different things to different people. Some view it as a beneficial process, with potential to boost productivity and living standards everywhere. Others believe that it increases inequality within and between countries, threatens employment and living standards, and thwarts social progress. The opportunities are no doubt many: global markets; exposure to new ideas, technology and products; economies of scale in production; gains in efficiency in the utilization of productive resources; greater specialization between nations; better quality products and wide option for consumers; increased competitiveness and increased output; and ability to tap cheaper sources of finance internationally. But most developing countries, especially the poorer countries, have very weak capacities to take advantage of a global market. The governments of African countries need to embrace globalization in the full awareness of these opportunities as well as the attendant risks. Developing, and operating within the framework of, strong regional and sub-regional economic groupings are one desirable response to the powerful forces of globalization. Such groupings should, however, be predicated on competitive production and investment. Regional integration will enable African countries to establish joint large-scale efficient and competitive enterprises and regional infrastructures. But then, to make regional integration an effective vehicle for beneficial integration within the world economy, African countries must overcome the perennial problem of lack of political will to integrate, and work towards greater institutional and economic policy convergence. It is only in this context that the new Initiatives – African Union and New Partnership for African development (NEPAD) – will make the desired impact

FINANCING AGRICULTURE FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Nigeria's agriculture is diverse, presenting various opportunities. It includes four sub-sectors, namely; crop, livestock, fishery and forestry.The crop sub-sector accounts for about 90.0 per cent of agricultural production in Nigeria, followed by the livestock sub-sector which contributes about 7.0 per cent. Fishing activities contribute about 2.0 percent and forestry activities account for about 1. 0 percent.However; Nigeria remains a food-deficit country blessed as it is with abundant agro-ecological resources and diversity. As reported by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO),the number of people undernourished has been on the increase, from 8.7 per cent of total population in 2007-09 to 11.2 percent in 2012-2014. This is because adequate attention has not been given to the agricultural sector; particularly after the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the country. For instance, the proportion of government total recurrent and capital expenditure allocated to the agricultural sector between 1981 and 2014 has been less than 3.0 percent compared with the 25 percent recommended by the FAO, and the minimum of 10 percent recommended by the African Union. Similarly.the agricultural sectors share of total commercial banks sectoral allocation of loans and advances to the economy declined from the height of 19.6 percent attained in 1996 to 3. 7 per cent in 2014. Meanwhile the Bank of Agriculture set up to focus on financing the sector has been plagued by inadequate capital and poor management. Other funding initiatives put in place to assist the agricultural sector have not been very successful as well due to the peculiar nature of agricultural production in Nigeria and hence, the preference for financing of commerce by financial institutions. It is therefore recommended that more financial resources be strategically directed at the agricultural sector for sustainable development of the Nigerian economy in view of the traditional role of agriculture in a developing economy