INTRODUCTION
The assignment would attempt to define ’Pro Poor Growth’, analyse the role of agriculture in addressing the problem of poverty with more emphasis on the current agricultural policy in Nigeria. It would be ascertain whether those policies saw the light of the day and some remedies will be suggested as a way forward.
PR-POOR GROWTH:
In some literature, growth is termed Pro Poor when incomes of the poor grow at a higher rate than those of the non-poor people. In the same vein, a recession may be deemed Pro Poor if people lose proportionately less than others, regardless of their worse position. This perception dwells on the distributional shift during the growth process. In another opinion, Pro Poor is simply an act that reduces poverty. See Ravallion and Chen 2003. this view focuses its attention specifically on what happens to poverty. In other words, the extent to which growth is Pro Poor depends on how much a chosen measure of poverty changes, partly on what happens to distribution, and partly on what happens to average living standard. Also in the view of Kakwani and Pernia (2003), pro Poor Growth is defined ‘as one that enables the poor to actively participate in and significantly benefit from economic activity. This implies a growth path that is labor intensive and concentrated in rural areas i.e. a growth that targets the poorest amongst the population. What is therefore necessary for poverty reduction is a strategy of Pro-Poor Growth is combined with reductions in inequality.
AGRICULTURE FOR PRO-POOR GROWTH.
There is a mass of evidence that, increasing agricultural productivity has benefited millions of people through higher incomes, more plentiful and cheaper food, and by generating patterns of development that are employment intensive and benefit both rural and urban areas. It is part of a major option of the UK department for international