Nigeria: A Land Sinking in Oil

Nataliya Langburd

SS-AAEA Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2011, vol. 2011, 10

Abstract: Prior to 1973, Nigeria’s largely agricultural economy was sustained by 90% of its population, its subsistence farmers. Since then, Nigeria has suffered a case of Dutch Disease where the dependence on oil has crowded out the agricultural sector from the market. Rather than responding to the needs of the population, the Nigerian government has focused on the interests of the profitable Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Despite Nigeria’s great GDP growth earning the title of an “emerging economy,” its population’s standard of living has deteriorated. In this paper, I argue that the shift from oil to small‐scale farming would allow Nigeria to establish an economy resilient in the face of price fluctuations, employ its comparative advantage in agricultural capital and labor force, and make the government directly accountable to the people.

Keywords: International Development; International Relations/Trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ssaaea:186999

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.186999

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