Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Food Security Group

To fill the gaps on the effects of the business environment on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) within the agri-food subsector, the Nigerian Agricultural Project Activity (NAPA) conducted a study on Sustainable Development and the Implications for Agri-Food Value Chain Actors. Around 4 in 10 Nigerians are living in Poverty, and millions more are vulnerable to falling below the poverty line. MSME’s are critical to the growth, productivity, and competitiveness of the economies of developing countries, and this is true for Nigeria. (National Policy on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, FRN 2021-2025). As at 2017, data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS)showed that Nigeria had 41.5 million MSME’s which accounted for 59.6 million jobs. In the same year, 69 million people were recorded as being in employment in 2017. (NBS, 2018). With these statistics, it is apparent that the sustainable growth of MSME’s is critical to Nigeria’s progress towards the delivery on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 1 (Ending poverty in all its forms) and SDG 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.) In this regard, strengthening the understanding of the business environment for agri-food enterprises in Nigeria is the overarching objective of the current study.