THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

In many developing countries of the world, financial facilities are few and far between. In reviewing the evolution of financial markets in Asia, Latin America and African countries, it was asserted that the new financial facilities are clearly needed to external financial carriage especially in Nigeria. In supporting this assertion. It was shown that at ascertain stage in agricultural development, agricultural credit clearly does become a strong force for further improvement. Therefore, of the two capital markets (the institutional and non-institutional) available to rural producers, the informal sources is the most extensive suppliers of credit in Nigeria, yet this source has not supplied the amount of credit in terms required by farmers to modernize their farming methods. Based on the above, these questions arise from the following problems. 1. Why has agricultural been relegated to the background in Nigeria? 2. Why has the government not been able to salvage agriculture and place it in its rightful position in the economy inspite of its laudable agricultural programmes. 3. Should the low level of institutional credit be attributed to insufficient funds in effective supervision by monetary authorities political interference etc. The above problems are set-to help to investigate and analyze the role of financial institutions in agricultural development in Nigeria.