1*Oyelekan, A.A., 2Fatogun, O.O. & 3Adekunle, K.J.
1Department of General Studies, Federal University of Technology, Ilaro, Ogun State, Nigeria
2,3Department of Accountancy, Federal University of Technology, Ilaro, Ogun State
*Corresponding author: Azeez.oyelekan@federalpolyilaro.edu.ng
ABSTRACT
The study analyses the contribution of agripreneurship financing the employment dynamics between 2004 and 2024. The study the ARDL and ECM techniques to examine short-run and long-run effect between the variables of the study, namely; employment rate, agricultural loan value, agricultural loan quantity, foreign direct investment in agriculture, and food price index. Secondary data were obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria and World Bank Development Indicators. ARDL approach was chosen because of its suitability for variables with mixed order. The results indicated the model strong explanatory power with the Adjusted R-squared of 0.9210 and the probability value of the F-statistic was significant at 0.000011. The results suggest the immediate effect of domestic agricultural loans on employment is low in Nigeria; and that employment dynamics are significantly affected by the prior employment conditions and foreign direct investment in agriculture. Bounds test revealed non-existence of long-run cointegration between variables, implying agripreneurship financing has short run effect on employment. The ECM coefficient of -1.0383 indicated a very rapid adjustment to the equilibrium after economic shocks. The researchers found that financing for strategic and employment oriented agripreneurship, stable food price policy, and foreign investment in agriculture are vital to sustainable employment growth in Nigeria.
Keywords: Agripreneurship, Economy, Employment, Financing, Growth,