IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL CREDIT GUARANTEE SCHEME FUND (ACGSF) ON SELECTED CASH CROP OUTPUT IN NASARAWA STATE: 1997-2016

Access to finance for agriculture is an incentive for increasing the agricultural sector performance as it stimulates productive growth, and supports the survival of small and new enterprises. Because of the challenges facing farmers, which have adverse effects on agricultural production, the government thought it fit to act as an intermediary through the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS) whereby the government stands as a guarantor for agricultural loans in order to mitigate the risk involved in agricultural financing. However, majority of our remote rural farm community consists of subsistence farmers who are not in a position to use high quality new improved seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, modern machines and technology and advanced farm implements due to lack of adequate finance and credit available to them. The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund on selected cash crop outputs in Nasarawa state. Secondary data was gotten from CBN statistical Bulletin, World Bank reports, textbooks, Journals etc they were used to identify the impact of ACGSF on selected cash crop (maize, groundnut, oil palm) output in Nasarawa State 1997-2016. The empirical method adopted was the ordinary least square (OLS) regression technique and findings from the analysis showed that agricultural credit guarantee scheme fund had a significant impact on ground nut and oil palm productions in Nasarawa state. However, on the side of maize productions, agricultural credit guarantee scheme fund was found to have had no significant influence on maize outputs in Nasarawa state. Thus, indicating that ACGS loans have not been adequate for maize farmers to increase output in the study area. The study thus recommends that ACGS should be socially oriented in accessing larger number of real/full time rural small and medium farmers who are the majority, poor and have insufficient capital to expand their farm maize production. In addition, more incentives must be put in place to make agriculture more attractive to a large proportion of the nation’s working population than the usual white collar jobs.