ADSU International Journal of Applied Economics, Finance and Management

Impact Of The Usage Of Financial Services On Agricultural Productivity In Nigeria: A Time Series Analysis

Abstract

This paper assessed the impact of the usage of financial services on agricultural productivity in Nigeria using annual time series data spanning the period of 41 years, from 1982 to 2022. Basically, agricultural credit guarantee scheme fund, deposits of rural bank branches, private sector credit to agricultural sector and loans of rural branches of deposit money banks, were considered as proxies for usage of financial services which in itself a measure of financial inclusion. The study controls for fertilizer consumption as working capital. Unit root tests conducted revealed that only loans of rural branches of deposit money banks is stationary at level, all other series are stationary at first difference. The study therefore employed Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing to see both the long run and short run impact of the usage of financial services on agricultural productivity. The results revealed that usage of financial services proxied by agricultural credit guarantee scheme fund, private sector credit to agricultural sector and fertilizer consumption; all have significant positive impacts on agricultural productivity both in the short run and long run. Only deposit of rural bank branches that does not exhibit any impact on agricultural productivity. The study therefore recommends policies to enhance penetration of more banks in the rural areas as well as agricultural loan advances to increase productivity.