Analyzing the effects of ICT infrastructure adoption on agricultural output in Nigeria: An error correction model approach

Abstract

This study examined the effect of adoption of ICT infrastructure on agricultural output in Nigeria. Annual data on fixed telephone subscriptions, mobile phone subscriptions, internet usage, ICT goods import and some essential production variables spanning from 1994 to 2023 were used for the study. The unit root test of stationarity of each variable was obtained using the Augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) while the existence of long - run and short-run relationship among the variables was established using the Engle and Granger 2-step approach. Based on the ADF results, all the variables were integrated of order one, I(1) and the error term of the long-run regression was stationary at level. Then, we implemented error correction model(ECM) to examine the short-run relationship between agricultural output and the ICT variables under consideration. The overall estimated result showed a significant long-run relationship between agricultural output and mobile phone subscriptions, internet usage, ICT goods import, and short-run significant relationship with only ICT goods import and mobile phone subscriptions. Fixed telephone did not have significant influence on agricultural output both in the short-term and long-term. The study suggests implementation of policies that will improve the existing level of ICT facilities for enhancement of more agricultural output.