Stakeholders in agriculture in Kwara State have called for improvement in the annual budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector in the state, saying the 3.09 per cent budgeted for agriculture in the 2021 budget is far below the international benchmark.
Speaking at the state level consultative meeting on the 2022 agriculture budget in Ilorin, on Thursday, the coordinator, Public Financing of Agriculture (PFA) Project in the state, Mallam Abdurrahman Ayuba, urged the state government to increase its agriculture budget to meet the 10 per cent Maputo/Malabo declaration and commitment.
It is recalled that the PFA Budget Committee, funded by ActionAid Nigeria, runs in seven other states aside Kwara state and has analysed Kwara state agriculture budget for nine years.
The organisation, which also advised that there should be a specific budgetary allocation for women farmers in subsequent years, “especially as they are key stakeholders in the sector”, observed that there was no provision for women farmers in the 2021 budget, “even though they produce 75 per cent of the food consumed in the country.
Mallam Ayuba, who said that the evolution of the agriculture master plan in the state was not participatory enough, asked the state government to involve stakeholders in the process for better results.
Also speaking, President Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) Kwara chapter, Hajia Bosede Anifowose, called on the state government to provide access to interest-free credit facilities to women farmers and youth in the state.
Hajia Anifowose, who said that all agricultural related activities budget should be domiciled in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development budget to ensure transparency, added that Research and Development components of the budget, particularly for the Local Government should be clearly spelt out for effective Monitoring and Evaluation.
“Climate Resilience for Sustainable Agriculture should be budgeted for to support organic farming, mitigate and adapt to climate change,” she said.
The organisation, which commended the state government for allocating a budget line for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), recommended that the M&E budget should be sustained and improved upon in subsequent years.
“Also, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Small Holder Women Farmer Associations should be involved to achieve results and impacts.”
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