2015 agric budget: Hard times await farmers

In 2013, the total allocation to agriculture was N83.37 billion from the nation’s budget of N4.920 trillion representing 1.7%,  far below the 6.2% of the total budget the sector got in 2009.The agricultural budget in 2014 witnessed a serious cut by 20.06% from the N83.37 billion in 2013 allocation to N66.64 billion. These cuts were […]

In 2013, the total allocation to agriculture was N83.37 billion from the nation’s budget of N4.920 trillion representing 1.7%,  far below the 6.2% of the total budget the sector got in 2009.
The agricultural budget in 2014 witnessed a serious cut by 20.06% from the N83.37 billion in 2013 allocation to N66.64 billion. These cuts were faulted by many civil society organs, agriculture experts and farmers who want to see increased funding of the sector.
In apparent disregard to trend in best practice and despite various campaigns by some non-governmental organisations, international agencies and  some law makers at the National Assembly, calling for government to respect the Maputo Declaration, which asked African leaders to allocate 10% of their national budget to agriculture, the 2015 agric budget further dropped!
A total of N39,151, 900,120 is allocated to agriculture in the 2015 fiscal year, which shows a cut of about half of the 2014 budgetary allocation. Recurrent expenditure took the lion share of N32, 207, 900,120 leaving only N6, 944,000,000 for capital projects.
Many research institutes may likely be inactive this year because the budget does not consider the significance of research to agricultural development. For instance, the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike got N94, 177,073 for its capital project and the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State got N65,539, 012 for its capital projects.
This year, the Ministry of Agriculture is spending N23, 520,000 on tomato seeds, biotechnology cotton got N13, 344,000, okra seeds N18,000,000 and onions N2,457,600
There is also severe reduction in the amount allocated to fertiliser and improved seeds and seedlings.  The question many are asking now is: Does treating agriculture as business means reduced spending by government in a nation where many are still grappling with stark poverty?
With this budget, the small holder farmers who constitute 70% of the farming group will face even greater challenges as a result of cuts in government spending. This is because agric spending is critical to reducing poverty and promoting development.
Currently, only about 43,000 hectare of irrigable areas is developed with less than 10% put to use despite our potential of over 3 million hectares. Our crop yield of 2-4 tonnes a hectare is far below potential compared to those of other countries which reap 12-14 tonnes per hectare.