A Review of Trends in Import of Some Selected Foods in Nigeria (1981-2010): Matters Arising

Abstract

This research assessed empirically the quantitative analysis of some selected food imports of Ni- geria (rice, wheat and sugar). Time series data were used to examine the determinant of total food imports and the trend in the quantity of the food imported. The secondary data were obtained from institutional and national database over 1981-2010. Descriptive statistics, regression and correlation analysis were used as analytical tools. Statistical analysis shows that food deficit began in the 1970’s, when Nigeria started the importation of food to feed the country. The result of the correlation analysis shows that the postulated determinants of food imports were positively cor- related with the quantity of food import. The test for the individual variables shows that; national income explains 40%, external reserves explains 38%, food production index explains 46%, pop- ulation explains 58% and exchange rate explains 74% of the total variation in the quantity of food import. The over-all goodness of fit of the regression analysis result shows that, the postulated re- gressors namely, relative price, national income, external reserves, lagged index of domestic food production, population estimate and exchange rate explained approximately 70% of the variabil- ity in the quantity of the selected food imports for the period of study. Consequently, there is the need for Nigeria to shift base from the ideology of nationalist orientation, as well as afro centric point of view and move towards unrestrained export-led growth that seeks to develop that market as the first option with corresponding development in international trade. This is however possi- ble by limiting the importation of foods/raw materials that can be sourced for locally, increasing the domestic production of food generally and maintaining a healthy foreign investment with de- veloped countries as a short term measure while in the long run, diversification of the economy, massive investment in agriculture and introduction of population control measures could serve as saviours to lower the rate of increase in food import demand.