CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Agriculture involves the cultivation of land, raising and rearing of animals for the purpose of production of food for man feed, and raw materials for industries (Anyawu, 2013, cited in Ebomche, 2010). Majorly, it comprises of growing of crops, rearing of animals, forestry and fishing. The agricultural sector is the industrial and economic springboard from which a country’s development can take o. Nigeria is generously endowed with abundant natural resources. Human and natural resources being its reserves, Nigeria has the tendency to build a prosperous economy and provide for the basic needs of the population. This large resource base if properly managed could enhance a vibrant agricultural sector capable of ensuring the supply of raw materials for the industrial sector as well as providing profitable employment for the larger population (Ukeje 2012).Public spending (e.g. Budget) is one of the most direct effective instruments used by governments to promote agricultural growth and poverty reduction. (Ukeje2012). Public spending at the federal level and sub-national level follows a basic structure-recurrent spenfding and capital spending. This spending structure is characterized by diferent expenditure categories depending on the ministry, department or agency. The nature of support given to agriculture by various governments in the country varied over the years. Before independence, the assistance to the sector was generally aimed at developing the export crops required by the overseas industries. After independence when the national development plans were prepared, agricultural support took a much formal form, and thus presented a more serious impression of what government intended doing for the sector. However what most of the efforts later turned out to be as can be inferred from the allocations made in the various national development plans and annual budgets, leave much to be desired. When compared to other sectors like mining, manufacturing, education, and health, agriculture virtually received the least annual allocations that are often inadequate to put the sector on sustainable grounds. This accounts to a large extent for the poor performance of many institutional reforms and strengthening which were over the years undertaken in the sector (Nwajiuba, 2012). Average total annual expenditure on agriculture, has been increasing over the years. Total annual expenditure on agriculture increased on the average from N0.02 billion through an average of N0.2 billion per annum to N1.84 billion. Total annual expenditure on agriculture increased significantly to N16.97 billion and further to N37.13 billion, but fell to N36.19 billion(CBN, 2014). Despite these huge sums of money allocated to the sector over the years, the state of agriculture in Nigeria still remains poor and largely underdeveloped.