International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume III, Issue XII, December 2019|ISSN 2454-6186 www.rsisinternational.org Page 42 Implementation of Vision 20:2020 Agricultural Policy and Food Production in Nigeria, 2007-2015 Ofozoba Chinonso Anthony Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Anambra State, Nigeria Abstract:-The study set out to examine the implementation of the vision 20:2020 agricultural policy by the Federal Government and its effect on food production in Nigeria between 2007 and 2015. The qualitative method of data collection and analysis and the Marxian instrumentalist theory were adopted for the study. The study established that the implementation of the Vision 20:2020 did not effectively improve and modernize production systems in Nigeria between 2007 and 2015. Again, the implementation of Vision 20:2020 did not impact effectively on the production of tubers, grains and livestock in Nigeria between 2007 and 2015. The “improved seed projects”, Agricultural Credit Support Scheme (ACSS) as well as Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS), and some stated subsidy packages (including that of acquisition of tractors, fast yielding crops, etc) could not be accessed by most farmers. Irrigation and efficient extension schemes, as well as use of highly disease resistant livestock campaign were not implemented. Adequate funds were not released for agricultural research institutes thus leading to low adaptability to modern farming techniques. Worse still, rural farmers lacked information on modern farming techniques, as monies meant for farmers‟ enlightenment programmes were embezzled. Therefore, production of tubers, grains and livestock has either declined from 129947000 tons in 2006 (i.e. prior to implementation period) or recorded insignificant increases subsequently as against the policy goal of 100 percent increase in production. The study recommended that the government should match the Vision 20:2020 agricultural policy with commensurate funding and corrupt practices must also be checked at the level of policy implementation so as to achieve good result. The government should also advance workable strategy of attracting meaningful contribution from the private sector under the public-private partnership (PPP) framework. I. INTRODUCTION igeria has, in 2007, set an ambitious target to become one of the top 20 economies in the world by the year 2020. This target is known as “Nigeria Vision 20: 2020”. A major thrust of this goal is to accelerate the country‟s economic growth and position it on a path of sustained and rapid socio- economic development. Abdulhamid (2008) traced the history of this target to a research conducted by economists at an American Investment Bank, a fall-out of which was a prediction that Nigeria would be in the league of 20 top economies by year 2025. This was based on assessment of its abundant human and material resources and on the assumption that the country‟s resources would be properly managed and channeled to set economic goals (Onyekakeyah, 2008). As part of the Vision 20:2020, Nigeria seeks to consolidate its leadership role in Africa by being economically self-reliant and establish itself as a significant player in the global economic scheme and political arena. However, following poor performance of the agricultural sub- sectors, value added per capita in agriculture has merely risen by less than 1 percent annually over the past 20 years. Food production increase has not kept pace with population growth, resulting in rising food imports and declining levels of national food self-sufficiency. Nigeria recorded in the past, on average, 4 tons of agricultural product per hectare compared to 13-14 tons per hectare in other countries of similar climatic pattern. Thus, most Nigerian farmers operate at the subsistence level, with marketable surplus ranging between 0- 25 percent depending on the household size. In this light therefore, several decisive strategies, most of which have had a marginal effect, have been employed over the years to set the records right and reposition agriculture in such a way as to ensure food sufficiency in the country (Report of the Vision 20:2020 National Technical Working Group on Agriculture and Food Security, 2009). The vision 20:2020 agricultural policy is not the first agricultural strategy to be implemented in Nigeria. However, it is a robust attempt to particularly discover the inadequacies of previous agricultural policies in the country as well as emerging challenges, and critically address them in order to reposition agricultural production towards the path of food sufficiency by the year 2020. Among other things, by year 2020, Nigeria aims at having a modern technologically enabled agricultural sector that fully exploits the vast agricultural resources of the country, ensures national food security and contributes significantly to foreign exchange earnings (Nigeria Vision 20:2020 Economic Transformation Blueprint, 2009). In a nutshell, the vision 20:2020 agricultural policy states that achieving an appreciable development of the nation‟s agricultural sector, by adequately producing the needed inputs for agro-allied and agro-based industries requires the initiation and implementation of the following strategic initiatives:  Rehabilitation and completion existing irrigation projects, establishing new ones across the nation and providing incentives for the development of new community-based and privately initiated irrigation projects.  Facilitating the acquisition of farmlands and title holdings for agricultural production through an intensive review of the Land Use Act and N