By Yemi Olakitan
Nigerian agricultural stakeholders have criticised the Federal Government over the portion allocated to the sector in the just-passed 2023 budget
The National Assembly had on December 28, 2022 passed the 2023 appropriation bill into law. The budget totalling N20.5 trillion is dubbed “Budget of Fiscal Consolidation and Transition.”
However, the agriculture sector carpeted the Federal Government for allocating N228.4 billion, or 1.11 percent of the overall budget to it.
As a result of this, the stakeholders in the sector described the Federal Government as not being serious about the development of the sector.
A breakdown of the 2023 agriculture budget shows that N136.68 billion, or approximately 59.84 percent of the total, was designated for capital expenditures, while N85.42 billion, or about 37.39 percent, was designated for recurring expenses.
ActionAid Nigeria’s analysis of the budgetary allocation for the agriculture sector reveals that of the N228.4 billion, approximately N131.7 billion (57.7%) is given to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) headquarters in Abuja, while the over 45 agencies under it, including the Universities of Agriculture, split N96.7 billion (42.3 per cent).
According to the report, “stakeholders believe that the sharing ratio is unjust and should be modified so that the primary ministry focuses on its core responsibilities and the implementing agencies have more funding to carry out projects. In the future, MDAs, in particular research institutions, should have creative recommendations on creating new breeds of livestock and crops and delivering cutting-edge technologies to farmers. The 1.11 percent allocation to the sector is significantly underwhelming for a Federal Government that has frequently stated its ambition to shift economic growth and sustenance from oil to agriculture and views the industry as the primary engine of job creation and food security. Data available indicate that the agricultural sector employs over 70% of the nation’s workforce and provides between 22% and 26% of the GDP, with a focus on rural areas.
In addition, you also have to worry about things like import substitution and guaranteeing food security. The agricultural industry has to be adequately funded in order to meet these goals, but the opposite is true.
A major stakeholder in the agricultural sector, Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere, the Vice President of Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), reacting to the 2023 annual budget to the sector, said it shows lack of seriousness on the part of government in developing agriculture to replace oil in Nigeria.
Ijewere expressed sadness at the government’s failure to recognise the value of agriculture, noting that Nigeria signed the Maputo Agreement, which committed all African nations to allocating at least 10% of their budgets to the sector.
“Only 1.11 percent of Nigeria’s total budget is allocated to food. You are aware that, given what has occurred over the years, a significant portion of that money is probably not going to be handled wisely, therefore it is untrue to declare that 1.11 percent is going to agriculture.
“If you look at that budget, you will find that very little of it goes to capital investment; most of it goes to going to conferences and operating the ministry. 1.11 percent is not enough because a significant portion of the money will not be used to advance agriculture. Growing agriculture is not taken seriously at all. Nigeria wants to replace oil with agriculture, but we aren’t accomplishing that, sadly,” he said.
Nigeria’s 1.11 percent budgetary allotment to agriculture is a far cry from the 10% required under the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), which African Heads of State ratified in 2014 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. African leaders agreed to devote at least 10% of each nation’s annual budget to agriculture in order to help the continent become self-sufficient in food, but Nigeria, like the majority of the continent’s nations, has never achieved that objective.
Analysts have outlined several reasons why the Nigerian government has not complied with this agreement. These include lack of political will, inadequate prioritisation of the agricultural sector, and ineffective and dishonest administration of financial resources.
