Social returns to oil palm research in Nigeria: a total programme perspective

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Periodical article

Title:	Social returns to oil palm research in Nigeria: a total programme perspective
Author:	Agiobenebo, Tamunopriye
Year:	1997
Periodical:	The Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies
Volume:	39
Issue:	1
Pages:	61-89
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	agricultural research palm oil
Abstract:	Using the economic surplus technique and taking a 'total programme' perspective, the present article reports on the social returns to investment in oil palm research in Nigeria. More specifically, the author is concerned with quantifying the social benefits of investment in oil palm research, as well as identifying the effects on such benefits of changes in policy regimes involving intervention through production subsidies, export taxation, price support, and import control, as well as shifts in demand, weather conditions and the prices of competing crops. Since Nigeria has become a net importer of palm oil, the implications of the transition from an export to an import trade regime on the size and distribution of the research benefits are also examined. The study covers the period from 1928, when oil palm was first introduced in Nigeria, to 2013, when it is assumed that the economic life of palms planted in 1981 will end. Due to data constraints, emphasis is on the subperiod 1939-2013. The empirical results indicate that investment in oil palm research is socially profitable under a wide range of circumstances. App., bibliogr., notes, ref., sum.