Agriculture
The Budget Committee of Public Financing of Agricultural (PFA) Project on Tuesday advocated an improvement in the budgetary provision for the agricultural sector in Kwara.
Mr Abdurrahman Ayuba, the Coordinator of the project, which is being funded by Actionaid Nigeria, made call in Ilorin during an advocacy visit to the state House of Assembly Committee on Agriculture.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PFA committee is a coalition of Civil Society Organisations and smallholder women farmers group in the state.
Ayuba, who is a Senior Programme Officer at the Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCPE), decried what he described as meagre budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector in Kwara in the last eight years.
According to him, the total yearly budgetary allocation to agriculture in the last eight years was less than three per cent.
He also expressed disappointment over the way past governments handled the issue of agriculture budget in the state.
“We wish to register our dismay over the way Smallholder Women Farmers in the state are being neglected in terms of farm inputs and soft loan among others in spite of their contributions to the agricultural value chain in the state.
“This lack of government’s support has been a major challenge militating against smallholder women farmers’ efforts in the state,” he said.
He appealed to the 9th Assembly to ensure adequate provisions were made for women farmers during the annual budget defence and legislative oversight.
Ayuba also urged the Assembly to ensure that the state government fulfiled the obligation of the Maputo Declaration of 10 per cent budgetary allocation to agriculture.
In their remarks, the State Coordinator of the the Smallscale Women Farmers Organization of Nigeria (SWOFON), Mrs Anifowoshe Bosede and the Secretary, Mrs Modupe Sulaiman, lamented how cattle encroach on their farmlands.
They said this had become a threat to the lives of their members and called on the Assembly to enact a law that would compel the state government to establish farm settlements.
Responding, the Secretary of the House Committee on Agriculture, Mr Adebiyi Tajudeen, commended the women farmers for their contributions to the agricultural value chain in the past.
Tajudeen expressed the readiness of the 9th Assembly to enact laws that would support the agricultural policies of the present administration in achieving food security in the state. (NAN)
-Sep 24, 2019 @ 14:59 GMT |
Tags: NGO seeks improved budgetary provision for agriculture in Kwara
