Anambra-based women agriculture interest group, the Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON), has raised concerns over the decline in the state’s agriculture budget, saying it threatens sustainable support for smallholder farmers.
SWOFON noted that Anambra’s agricultural allocation fell from 2.03 per cent in 2021 to 0.59 per cent in 2025.
Mrs Rosemary Onwuegbuka, SWOFON Coordinator in Anambra East LGA, disclosed this at a news conference in Awka.
The conference was held to present the “Voice to Action” policy brief and findings from the IBP-SWOFON Impact Assessment covering 2019 to 2025.
Onwuegbuka said: “According to the assessment, Anambra approved N10.97 billion for agricultural capital projects between 2021 and 2025 but recorded actual expenditure of only N3.21 billion, representing 29.3 per cent implementation.
“The low level of budget execution is as concerning as the declining allocation, particularly for women farmers who depend on public agricultural services and infrastructure.
“Inadequate funding and implementation continue to constrain access to improved seeds, mechanisation, irrigation, extension services, finance, processing facilities and markets.”
She added that women farmers had secured greater access to budget and policy discussions in recent years, but this participation had yet to translate sufficiently into measurable investments and improved service delivery.
Onwuegbuka urged the Anambra State Government to convert women farmers’ priorities into identifiable, costed budget lines, with clear implementing agencies, locations, timelines and delivery targets.
“We are calling for greater transparency in agricultural spending, including tracking funds from appropriation and release to expenditure and project completion, with beneficiary communities able to verify delivery.
“Government should improve women farmers’ access to productive resources, including land, mechanisation, irrigation, finance, storage and markets, through transparent beneficiary selection,” she said.
Onwuegbuka acknowledged the January 2026 distribution of knapsack sprayers by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to more than 50 farmer groups and cooperatives in Anambra. She said such interventions should complement sustained state investment.
“We are ready to monitor projects and provide community feedback to strengthen accountability in agricultural spending.
“We therefore urge the state government, legislature, MDAs, local councils and development partners to institutionalise women farmers’ participation throughout the budget cycle,” she said.
Also speaking, Mrs Georgina Akunyiba, SWOFON Coordinator in Anambra, said stronger budgetary commitments were essential to translating women farmers’ participation into tangible improvements in food production and rural livelihoods.
She also stressed the need for transparent implementation of agricultural budgets to ensure that resources earmarked for women farmers reach them and deliver the intended impact.
