DOI: 10.28934/ea.21.54.2.pp104-117 PRELIMINARY REPORT Do Labour and Political Will Affect Agricultural Output?: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa Kareem Abidemi Arikewuyo 1* | Lateef Adewale Yunusa 2 | Babatunde O. Oke 3 | Babatunde Adekunle Okuneye 4 1 Southwestern University, Nigeria, Okun-Owa, Ogun State 2 Olabisi Onabanjo University, Departmen of Banking and Finance, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria 3 University of Lagos, Department of Finance, Akoka, Nigeria 3 Olabisi Onabanjo University, Department of Economics, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria ABSTRACT Agriculture has been at the forefront in employment creation and revenue generation in Africa until there was a shift from the sector to the non-farm or service industry which threatens the economic sustenance despite the growing population of youth in the region. The neglect of the agricultural sector resulted from labour migration and lack of political will in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which has severe implications on agricultural output. This study, however, investigated the nexus among labour, political will and agricultural production in SSA from 1998 – 2018 using the dynamic System – GMM estimation technique. The study found employment in the agricultural sector, agricultural raw material, exchange rate, political will, and agricultural material and exchange rate interaction significantly influenced agricultural output in SSA. Therefore, it is recommended that for SSA future to be sustained, the governments should discourage labour migration from the agricultural sector through government supports to boost employment and poverty reduction. Key words: Labour, Political Will, Agriculture Output, SSA JEL Classification: J43, O38, O13, N47 INTRODUCTION African countries are naturally endowed with mineral resources, and this led to Europeans’ search for raw materials in which agricultural outputs played a crucial role in this respect. Agricultural results have contributed to the gross domestic product (GDP) of most developing economies across the globe and Africa. Agriculture served as a source of foreign exchange earnings, creating investment outlets both locally and internationally, employment opportunities, and providing the material needed for further productions. Some of the developing economies diversified their income sourced from crop exportation into crude oil exportation, which led to the reduction in crop exportation and gross domestic product of the economy (Adeola & Ikpesu, 2016). The decrease in crop exportation and other agricultural outputs led to divestment by some African nations from agricultural produce into the oil sector, which now reversed the earlier role played by developing countries as major suppliers of raw materials the world over. The demand for agricultural produce on a large scale became apparent due to an upsurge in the world population. Therefore, it requires massive capital to meet its demand; finance becomes a * Corresponding author, e-mail: kareem.arikewuyo@yahoo.com