| Summary: | This study considered the limiting response of Nigeria cassava expansion initiative to
climate changes, economic growth and some policy instruments. The presidential initiative to
make cassava a foreign exchange earner as well as ensuring that national demand are
satisfied has made cassava a significant economic crop and resource input of industrial and
international status. Currently, its derivatives such as animal feed, starch, ethanol, cassava
chip, cassava flour, cassava liquor etc are in high demand. Having gained international
recognition some factors need be examined to ascertain the limiting response of this
economic crop some exogenous factors. The specific objectives of interest were to ascertain
the response of cassava output expansion to rainfall, temperature, imports, exports, credit
allocation to agribusiness, exchange rate, nominal interest rate, inflation and GDP from
1970 – 2012. Also, it examined the short and long run effects of these variables to cassava
output so as to know how much adjustment it makes to reach the equilibrium. Secondary
data were used for this research work. The technique of data analysis was auto- regressive
modeling regression. To capture the long run and short run dynamics of cassava output
behavior, the error correction model (ECM) using the Engle-Granger methodology was
adopted. The result revealed a very high rate of adjustment to long run equilibrium and the
variables are correlated which means that impact of each variable on cassava output
behavior in the economy is inseparable. The Error correction coefficient of -0.975 measures
the speed of adjustment towards long run equilibrium earned the expected negative sign and
is statistically significant at 1% risk level. Thus, this study recommends that the emerging
cassava economy of Nigeria would be adequately empowered for efficient productivity if the
Government stipulate policies that will encourage domestic output expansion to meet the
national and foreign demands while avoiding increase in inflation, importation of goods and
services and proper checks and balances of the increase and decrease of temperature and
rainfall using effective and efficient metrological centre.
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