A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF AGRICULTURAL FINANCING IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC

A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF AGRICULTURAL FINANCING IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC

Abstract

When Nigeria attained political independence in 1960, agriculture was the dominant sector of the economy. It constituted over 65% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provided the bulk of the foreign exchange earnings through the export of “Cash Crops”. The sector catered adequately for nearly all the food requirements and raw material for industry in the country. Major expert crops included cocoa, groundnuts, cotton, palm oil and rubber. This situation, however, changed drastically at the beginning of the 1970s. Agricultural output started to decline rapidly at a time which not only coincided with the end of the Nigerian civil war but also with the period of oil boom and severe drought of 1972 – 1973., the overall agricultural situation deteriorated creating a wide gap between the supply and demand for food. To this end, no meaningful national economic development can take place without developing the agricultural sector. The bulk of the farmers expected to contribute to this development are small scale farmers in the rural areas. Moreover, they need modern farming techniques, which include the use of improved seedlings, modern machinery, equipment and storage facilities. It was found that the farmers cannot get all these items by themselves. One of the major inadequacies inhibiting the farmers from achieving their aim is lack of capital. In an attempt to cater for farmers finance problems, the Nigerian Agricultural and Cooperative Bank (NACB) and the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS) were established by the government to ensure provision of credit to farmers. One of the policies of commercial banks is financing agriculture as encouraged by the Federal Government, this has been extremely difficult in Nigeria. Banks especially commercial banks have shown a persistent reluctance in giving financial assistance to farmers while the agricultural development banks, like the NACB has not been performing to their expected standards. This work therefore is aimed at looking into agricultural financing in general and how far the First Bank of Nigeria has performed in agricultural financing in Nigeria. Based on the findings, recommendations are made to ensure that credit are given to the actual farmers, to reduce default and to increase its scope of operations by having more funds to be disbursed.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page- – – – – – – – – i
Approval page – – – – – – – -ii
Dedication – – – – – – – – -iii
Acknowledgement – – – – – – – -iv
Abstract – – – – – – – – – -v
Table of content – – – – – – – -vi

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION – – – – – – – -1
1.0 Background of the study – – – – -1
1.1 Statement of the problem – – – – -5
1.2 Purpose of the study – – – – – -6
1.3 Significance of the study – – – – -8
1.4 Research questions – – – – – -9
1.5 Scope of the study – – – – – – -10

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW – – – – – – -11

CHAPTER THREE

Research methodology – – – – – – -39
Design of study – – – – – – – -40

CHAPTER FOUR

Presentation, analysis and interpretation of data – -48

CHAPTER FIVE

Summary of findings – – – – – – -60
Conclusion – – – – – – – – -61
Recommendations – – – – – – – -62
Suggestions for further research – – – – -64
References – – – – – – – – -65
Appendix I – – – – — – – – -68
Questionnaire. – – – – – – – -69

A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF AGRICULTURAL FINANCING IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC