Abstract

Unemployment is a worldwide economic problem. It is a main cause of poverty. Poverty alleviation has been a great concern to developing countries. The economic cost of unemployment on a society necessitates this study. Consequently, this study analyses the Nigerian agricultural growth rate and examines the linkage and dimension of agricultural growth and unemployment rates. Time series data were employed with the aid of some statistical tools such as t – test, Granger Causality test and regression analysis. Results showed that Nigerian agricultural growth rate has an inverse relationship with unemployment and re – establish the Cobb webb theory. In addition, increase in agricultural growth decrease unemployment and thus can alleviate poverty. Consequently, recommending polices to alleviate poverty should focus on increasing agricultural growth.

Key words: Agricultural growth rate, unemployment rate, Granger Causality Test.