Drivers of Cassava and rice consumption in Nigeria: A vector error correction model approach

Considering the rate at which the country’s population increases, bearing the population estimate in mind, the need arise to match the population increase with food production. Rice and cassava form the main meal of majority of the people of Nigeria, both the rich and the poor; therefore, providing both at affordable price is an important step towards achieving the food self-sufficiency objective of the nation. Bearing in mind past studies in Nigeria, more had been focused on price variation in the economy with very few of them addressing production, consumption or competitiveness in the economy. Filling this gap requires a study on the various factors that influence consumption of both rice and cassava. The study made use of secondary data which were tested for unit root using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller technique; Correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between cassava and rice consumption and the Error Correction Model (ECM) to determine the long run relationship among variables. Findings revealed a positive relationship between cassava and rice consumption, with a low speed of adjustment for the variables in the short run. It was recommended that effort towards increasing household incomes in order to boost consumption should be adequately considered. There should be sustainability of the policies or programs towards increasing the production of these crops considering their importance in the food basket of the average populace.