Economic Growth and Agricultural Dynamics: Analyzing the Contributions of Major and Minor Crops, Livestock, Forestry, and Fisheries to GDP

Abstract

The aim of the study "economic growth and agricultural dynamics, analyzing the contributions of major and minor crops, Livestock, forestry & fisheries to GDP in the context of Pakistan" was conducted on output elasticities from major/minor crops (cereals/oilseed) livestock forestry fisheries generally subsumed into one aggregate sector with gross fixed capital formation using CGEs over 2000-2020. Descriptive statistics also show the wide ranging variation in GDP and agricultural outputs. The regression models indicate that elementary crops, secondary and tertiary livestock types and fisheries are important contributors to GDP by producing a high adjusted R-squared. Forestry has negligible effect on GDP though. Our results are robust on a number of fronts, including models excluding fisheries, interaction terms and lagged variables. The results were significant and positive for all major crops, minor crops as well as livestock confirming the importance of these sectors in GDP determination. These results suggest that pro-growth agricultural policies must have a targeted approach.