Effect of Poultry Production on Agricultural Production in Nigeria

This study examined the effects of poultry production on agricultural output in Nigeria. Specifically, this study is tailored to explore the effects of poultry birds’ production, poultry eggs production and poultry meat production on agricultural output. The period covered by the study spanned from 1975 to 2016. Data on the variables of interests were obtained from the Food and Agricultural Organization Statistics (FAOSTAT) and National Bureau of Statistics. The analytical techniques comprise OLS and error correction model. The Phillips-Perron unit root test results show that all the variables have unit root at levels test, but become stationary after being differenced once. The cointegration test results indicate that each of the test statistics show evidence of two cointegrating equations. This suggests that in actual fact long run relationship exists among the variables. From the parsimonious ECM, it was revealed that poultry birds production negatively influence agricultural GDP. Poultry eggs production has an insignificant effect on agricultural GDP as evidenced in the parsimonious ECM. The result further shows that poultry meat production is associated with a positive and significant coefficient. The implication of this finding is that the production of poultry meats enhances agricultural GDP through its important contribution to the livestock sub-sector. It was discovered from the result that the coefficient (-0.378) of error correction has the intended theoretical negative sign and also satisfies the statistical condition at 1 percent level. It is clear from this finding that any short run disequilibrium in the system can be corrected in the long run at 39 percent. Thus, this study recommends amongst others that governments at all levels should evolve measures that promote huge commitment to infrastructural development in agricultural sector in order to boost poultry output and promote self-sufficiency in poultry farming.