Analysis of growth rate in price of local and imported rice in rural and urban markets of Niger state,

Abstract

The study analyzed the growth rate in prices of local and imported rice in rural and urban markets of Niger state, secondary source of data, which was average monthly retailed prices per kg of local and imported rice in the study area from January 2000 to December 2016. Data was sourced mainly from Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) unit root test and exponential growth equation model, the E-views software was used for the analysis. The result shows that the maximum price for rice per kg was N 259.63, N 261.43, N 346.02, and N 345.89 for local and imported rice in rural and urban markets of the state respectively. The ADF unit root test shows that all the price series became stationary after taking the first difference, thus having an order of integration of I(1). The graph of the trend in the prices shows that a close relationship between the prices as they tend to move together in an upward and irregular pattern. The result of the exponential trend equation for the growth rate using the ATA period, shows a decelerated growth rate for all the series during the pre ATA period and an accelerated growth rate during the ATA period.