ActionAid wants increased agric budget

ActionAid Nigeria Country Director Dr. Hussaini Abdu, made the plea on Monday in Abuja at the formal launch of the ‘Walking the Talk’ report aimed at encouraging the government to among others fulfil the 2003 Maputo Declaration signed by seven African countries including Nigeria.“Despite promising 10 years ago to spend 10 percent of its budgets […]

ActionAid Nigeria Country Director Dr. Hussaini Abdu, made the plea on Monday in Abuja at the formal launch of the ‘Walking the Talk’ report aimed at encouraging the government to among others fulfil the 2003 Maputo Declaration signed by seven African countries including Nigeria.
“Despite promising 10 years ago to spend 10 percent of its budgets on agriculture, the Nigerian government has increased its attention on agriculture in recent years by introducing a range of policies in place to increase productivity, yet Nigeria’s budgetary allocations and actual spending on agriculture are woefully inadequate to reduce poverty especially on the key services needed by smallholder farmers.
“Nigeria spends very little on agriculture; the figures for the states are also low varying from 2.0-5.9 per cent. Not only is spending low – it is also extremely erratic. Federal government spending has ranged from 1.7 percent to 6.2 percent during 2007-2011.
“ActionAid’s Walking the Talk warns that Nigerian government is failing smallholder farmers particularly women, who make up the majority of farmers in Nigeria, and holding back food production across the country where Nigerians face food insecurity. A major reason why poverty and food insecurity remain widespread in Nigeria is that successive governments have failed to give appropriate funding to agriculture,” Abdu said.
While saying that as in other African economies, the predominant actors in Nigerian agriculture are women, constituting 60–80 percent of the agricultural labour force depending on geographical location, he said their access to services is much lower than men’s.
Abdu said, “Most government poverty alleviation policies, including those beyond agriculture, lack special provisions for women. Women in Agriculture (WIA), initiated in 1989 is only one of such policies targeting women, there is an inadequate supply of WIA extension agents and thus a low ratio of extension staff to farm families.”