An NGO, Participation Initiative for Behavioral Change in Development (PIBCID), in partnership with ActionAid Nigeria, has called on stakeholders in the agriculture sector to canvass for improved budgetary allocation in Kogi state, in order to attain food security.
The Executive Director of PIBCID, Halima Sadiq, gave the advise at a ”Stakeholders’ consultative meeting on Kogi State’s 2022 Agriculture budget” on Wednesday, in Lokoja.
She said that such a move had become necessary to address the gaps in previous agricultural budget allocations for a better and improved 2022 budget in the state.
Sadiq added that the meeting was also aimed at strengthening citizens’ participation in making the 2022 agricultural budget responsive to food security and wealth creation.
She stressed that the 6.6 per cent allocation to agriculture in Kogi, was grossly inadequate and contradicted the 10 per cent allocation as contained in the Maputo declaration of 2003.
According to her, there was a need to strengthen citizens’ participation in using food for wealth creation and creating more opportunities for women in the budget.
In his presentation, Mr Idris Ozovehe, the Chairperson, Kogi NGOs Network (KONGONET), reviewed the 2021 Agricultural Budget and the way forward for the 2022 budget, quoting the latest UN World Food Programmes estimates, that 957 million people across 93 countries, did not have enough to eat.
“Nigeria and Kogi state are not exempted from this. A total of 239 million people are in dire need of life-saving humanitarian action and protection this year alone.
” Unfortunately COVID-19 has struck at a time when hunger and undernourishment keeps rising.
“Over the years, Kogi State has been under budgeting for the sector. This is despite its huge advantage in terms of its large population of over 4 million and a 70 per cent farming sub-group, coupled with its location at the confluence of the Rivers Niger and Benue.
”With an approved allocation of N7, 689,925,925.00 to the Agriculture sector, Kogi State in 2021, plans to spend N1,687.74k on each person, which was slightly above 2020 allocation”, he said.
He stressed that the 2021 allocation was still grossly inadequate considering the current economic trend and depreciation in the value of the naira.
Ozovehe, a member of Scaling Up Public Investment Agriculture, (SUPIA), urged the government to focus more on women and youth in agriculture, agriculture finance and credit, farm input and extension services.
He noted that labour saving technologies and climate resilient sustainable agriculture (CRSA) had not been reflected in the budget.
He, therefore, called for a sustainable 2022 budget, by reviewing the existing policies and framework in agriculture, increase funding to meet the 10 per cent Maputo declaration, and focus resources to achieve value for money, among others.
On her part, the National Auditor and State coordinator, Small Scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria, (SWOFON), Hajiya Safiya Yahaya, said that although the consultative meeting started since 2012, the implementation of the agricultural budget in Kogi had remained poor.
A representative from the Ministry of Budget and Planning, Mr Saeed Abdulllahi, stated that the approved budget was based on what was obtainable, and the peculiar nature of the state, adding that government was making efforts to improve its budgetary provisions.
The Chairman of the Budget Committee in the state, Mr. Matthias Okpanachi, thanked all relevant agencies for making the stakeholder meeting a reality, noting that the struggle for a better agricultural sector had long started in 2012.
He added that relevant areas on the budget pertaining to women, youth and the grassroots should be taken seriously, because they were more involved in farming and in the sustainable provision of food for the state and the country at large.
The Acting Director, Planning Research and Statistics, Kogi Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Abraham Ahmed, said the paucity of funds in the ministry had hindered the implementation of most of its plans on improving agriculture and food security.
NAN reports that a Shadow agricultural budget for 2022 was jointly produced by the stakeholders at the meeting and a communique issued at the end of the programme. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
