Journal of Economics and Development Studies

Does Agriculture Really Matter for Economic Growth in Congo Brazzaville
Edwige KAMITEWOKO

Abstract
African countries are expected to behaving a comparative advantage when it comes to agricultural products. If this is true, specializing in agriculture can increase output levels. However, the effect of agriculture on growth has yielded various research interests and the results differ from country to country. The present study investigates the impact of agriculture on economic growth in CONGO Brazzaville using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimation technique, employing data from 2005 to 2018. It emerges from the estimates made that in the short run; agricultural is significant at the 5% level and has a positive impact on economic growth. Similarly, its lag is also significant at the 1% level and negatively impacts growth. In the long run, on the other hand, agricultural production (agricultural value added) has a negative and insignificant effect on economic growth. Thus, the agricultural sector plays an important role in the early stages of economic development, and when the economy has developed, agriculture plays a minimal role. It is evident from the results of this paper that agriculture is an engine for growth in the short run and should eventually be supported by other macroeconomic policies to promote economic growth in the long run.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jeds.v9n4a3