By Kayode Falade
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on his fellow African leaders to allocate more money to agriculture in the yearly budgets of their various countries.
This is as he also urged them to show political will and recommit themselves to transforming agriculture on the continent.
Buhari made the call on Wednesday in Senegal in his goodwill message at the Feed Africa Summit of heads of state and government.
President Buhari`s spokesperson, Femi Adesina, in a statement said the Nigerian leader encouraged his counterparts to adopt innovative policies that ensure people on the continent consume what they produce and export the excess.
NatureNews.Africa reports that Nigeria, in 2023 allocated N228.4 billion to the agricultural sector which accounts for 1.05 percent of the total budget of N21.83 trillion approved for the year.
With rising inflation globally and the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on up food prices, President Buhari listed measures that African leaders must take to change the status quo.
He said, ‘‘Feeding Africa is an imperative. We must ensure that we feed ourselves today, tomorrow, and well into the future.
“The starting point is to raise agricultural productivity. This requires the access of farmers to quality farm inputs, especially improved seeds, and fertilizers and mechanisation.
‘‘To succeed, we must strongly support farmers. There is no doubt that we need to subsidise our farmers, but we must do so in ways that are transparent, remove rent-seeking behaviour and effectively deliver support to farmers.
‘‘The share of budget allocation to agriculture should be increased across Africa, especially for investments in critical public goods, such as research and development, infrastructure, especially roads, irrigation, and energy.
‘‘As leaders, let us decisively ensure that we meet the 10 percent allocation of our budgets to agriculture as agreed in the Malabo Declaration of the African Heads of State and Government.”
President Buhari also called on his African counterparts to reduce the rate of rural-to-urban migration through the development of rural areas.
He added that encouraging more young people to enter the agricultural industry and making it appealing to them would be crucial to the future of agriculture in Africa.
He said, ‘‘To feed Africa, we need younger male and female farmers. We must also ensure that they get access to land, finance, technologies, information, and markets.”
The President Buhari then requested that the food and agriculture delivery compacts arising from the summit must address ways to improve the empowerment of the youth and women in the sector.
He added, ‘‘We must take into consideration climate change and ensure that agricultural systems are climate-smart and climate-resilient.
‘‘We must invest heavily in irrigation to help address increasing frequency of droughts that are leading to decline in crop yields.
‘‘I am convinced that the very targeted and bold approach of using the food and agriculture celivery compacts will allow Africa to finally break through and feed itself.
‘‘Feeding Africa is not negotiable. Africa must grow what her citizens eat. As leaders, we must demonstrate political will and re-commit ourselves to producing for the continent’s needs, including surpluses for export.”
Meanwhile, in his call for accessible financing, President Buhari emphasised the need for central banks to establish specific financing windows to support smallholder and commercial farmers.
‘‘Access to affordable finance is critical for the success of efforts to support smallholder farmers and commercial farmers. Commercial banks do not lend much to agriculture due to the perception of high risks,” he said.
‘‘Generally, less than 3 percent of total financing by commercial banks in Africa go into agriculture. We must, therefore, reduce the risks of lending faced by commercial banks. But we must go beyond commercial lending.
‘‘Where possible and countries can afford to, the central banks can also dedicate significant resources to complement lending from commercial banks.”