The current cost of living crisis and the resulting agitations have highlighted the need to scale up the agriculture budget. Policy analysts argue that the N362.9 billion allocated to the agriculture sector in the 2024 budget falls short of the 2014 Malabo Declaration, which calls for African countries to allocate at least 10 percent of their national budgets to agriculture.
Stakeholders in the agriculture sector are now taking proactive measures to increase the agriculture budget for 2025 to bolster food production. These stakeholders recently convened in Lagos under the aegis of the National Stakeholders Consultative Meeting on the 2025 agriculture budget. The group included representatives from state ministries of agriculture, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMFS), the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, ActionAid Nigeria, Oxfam, GIZ, the Community of Agriculture Non-State Actors (COANSA), and the ECOWAS Commission.
Highlighting the event’s purpose, Mrs. Elizabeth Egharevba, Director of the Economic Growth Department at the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, stated that the annual event aims to help the country achieve the Malabo Declaration. Egharevba, represented by Mr. Olaitan Fatai, Deputy Director in the ministry, emphasized that the meeting was strategically designed to bring together relevant stakeholders to contribute their inputs to the 2025 agricultural budget.
She described the forum as a milestone in the country’s efforts to achieve the Malabo Declaration and to address food insecurity. Egharevba noted that the outcome would help reduce food importation, alleviate pressure on external reserves, and conserve much-needed foreign exchange that could be directed toward other vital developmental needs.
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“This platform facilitates more input into the 2025 agriculture budget by creating ownership, linking, and integrating programs that will help Nigeria not only achieve food security but also attain other deliverables. I am confident that we are embarking on a landmark journey that will enable us to tackle food insecurity and enhance synergy between agencies in the agriculture sector,” she said.
Egharevba also noted that the forum has significantly impacted the agriculture budget since its inception in 2016. She pointed out that the agriculture budget had risen to six percent, up from 1.3 percent in 2016.
“The appropriation to agriculture at the federal level has been increasing steadily, although it has yet to achieve the 10 percent of the total national budget in line with the Malabo Declaration,” she added.
Egharevba also mentioned that the government has devoted more resources to agriculture in the 2025 budget through the development of the Cassava Bio-Ethanol Value Chain Project, which will be implemented via a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
According to her, the project is designed to be implemented across the six geopolitical zones to ensure the development of the entire cassava value chain.
Sharing similar views, Mr. Ibrahim Tanimu, Director of Planning and Policy Coordination in the ministry, said the sector needs diversification through innovation and technology to enhance production and ensure food and nutrition security. Tanimu explained that the ministry is currently collaborating with the Ministry of Science and Technology to produce fabricated implements that could assist farmers in increasing productivity.
“We need mechanization—not heavy machines, but smaller, locally fabricated machines using our own initiative. We are collaborating with the Ministry of Science and Technology on the production of smaller implements that can assist our farmers at an affordable price,” he said.
Mr. Azubike Nwokoye, Food and Agriculture Programme Manager at ActionAid Nigeria (AAN), outlined the meeting’s objectives, which include leveraging understanding of the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP). Nwokoye also stated that the meeting aimed to enhance understanding of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) and its connection to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) targets.
“The meeting seeks to strengthen citizens’ participation towards making the 2025 agriculture budget responsive to food systems transformation and wealth creation. It also aims to support effective biennial reporting by Nigeria to the African Union Heads of State and Government in line with the Malabo Declaration and Commitments of 2014,” he said.
Mr. Andrew Mamedu, Country Director of AAN, emphasized that such budgets should include line items for implementing the National Gender Policy in agriculture, addressing specific challenges affecting women farmers. Mamedu urged governments to avoid lumping together budgets for women farmers and other groups, such as youth.
He explained that a recent survey conducted by AAN on the capacity of smallholder women farmers to contribute effectively to agricultural development revealed challenges such as poor access to credit and inputs. Mamedu listed other challenges, including post-harvest losses, reduced support, insecurity, lack of access to irrigation support, training, and market access.
According to Mamedu, these challenges contribute to the current high cost of food in the country. He also noted that smallholder farmers contribute 70 to 80 percent of agricultural production in the country but regretted that their challenges were not prioritized despite their significant contribution to national food security.
“The Federal and State Ministries of Agriculture should scale up yearly budget lines for support to smallholder women and youth farmers, reflecting on what should be prioritized, especially in the 2025 budget, based on the realities on the ground. The National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGSAP) should be well-funded and executed to address the input gaps experienced by smallholder farmers, especially women and youth,” he said.
Mamedu also urged federal and state governments to invest more in agriculture to address strategic areas of investment that would increase agriculture’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to at least six percent.
He identified strategic areas such as extension services, access to credit for women and youth in agriculture, and appropriate labour-saving technology inputs. Mamedu also highlighted the need for support to reduce post-harvest losses, such as processing and storage facilities, training, and market access, as well as Climate-Resilient Sustainable Agriculture (CRSA), agroecology, research and development, and monitoring and evaluation.
The stakeholders, therefore, urged both federal and state governments to ensure that the 2024 budget and subsequent budgets are gender-sensitive.
Experts opine that massive and expeditious funding is required for a turnaround in the agriculture sector. They believe that conscious and pragmatic budgeting, coupled with effective implementation, will go a long way in boosting food security.
NANFeatures
