Agriculture
DELTA Budget Committee Group (BCG), in coalition with Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON) and Environmental and Rural Mediation Center (ENVIRUMEDIC), has scored Delta State government low following its paltry budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector in recent years.
The group stressed the urgent need to increase funding of agriculture to promote food security and improve the wellbeing of the people of the state.
The organisations made this known while presenting a report of their analysis on the 2024 Delta State budget at a press briefing in Warri.
Speaking, the Executive Director of ENVIRUMEDIC who doubles as the coordinator of BCG, Chief Monday Itoghor, said,
“The task of analysing Delta State budget is a yearly activity of the BCG with support from ActionAid Nigeria, aimed at appraising the state government’s policy with regard to financing the agriculture sector to increase food production and promote food security.
Itoghor said that the report of the budget analysis was not intended to antagonize the Delta State government, adding that it would inspire the government to improve its policy towards accelerating growth and productivity in agriculture.
The report noted as follows:
“That the 2024 Delta State agriculture budget is 1.26% of the total state’s budget, a far cry from the 10% benchmark of the ‘Maputo Declaration, and it goes to show non-commitment of the state government to development of the agriculture sector.
“There is a slight percentage increase in capital expenditure and a reduction in recurrent expenditure. However, the increase in the capital expenditure negates the posture and policy of the government that tends to spend more money in projects that influence the lives of the citizens, especially in the communities.
“Based on the projected Delta State population – 5,636,100, the allocation of N9,161,967,898 to agriculture sector amounts to N1,625.6 per capita investment. This points to poor appreciation of the importance of the sector in driving development and poverty reduction.
Also, considering the current economic challenges and depreciation in the value of naira, the allocation to agriculture is grossly inadequate.
“The 2024 budgetary allocation targeted to address the needs of women and youths is higher than what were allocated in the past years.
“Also, in 2024, N100,000,000 was allocated to Ministry of Agriculture for mobilization of Rural Women for Sustainable Agriculture (MORWSA), a unit of the ministry that works with women farmers in the state, thus representing 80 per cent increase against the 2023 allocation to the unit.
“This is a commendable development that shows that the government acknowledged the challenges faced by women farmers.
“In the same vein, N1,050,000,000 was allocated to Job Creation Bureau where the Youth Agriculture Enterprise Programme (YAGEP) is factored into. However, the exact amount allocated to YAGEP is not spelt out in the state’s budget’s document, thus making monitoring and tracking very cumbersome.
“The allocation (loans to farmers) for maize production in 2024 is N16,468,642 as against N70,000,000 for 2023. This shows a decrease in provision of credit to farmers especially small holders women farmers.
“Farm inputs in Agriculture are a yardstick for determinants of production yield and usually take a lion share of the budget for the sector. In the 2024 budget, ₦100,000,000 was allocated to the Delta state Agricultural Procurement Agency for the provision of inputs and services. ₦80,000,000 was allocated to the agency in 2023, thus representing ₦20 million increase in 2024.
“However, considering the number of farmers in the state, the increase is not enough for farmers to benefit from the credit scheme”
The report further noted:
“The Delta Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (DARDA), a critical entity responsible for mobilization and provision of Agriculture Extension services was allocated N200,000,000 in 2024 being same amount it got in 2023, thus indicating no increase in allocation from 2023-2024.
Considering the number of farmers in the state, the allocation is not enough for effective service provision.
“That the applied Labour Saving Technologies And Practices (LSTAPs) such as drought resistant seeds, simplified mechanical devices for tilling, planting and harvesting etc., which reduce drudgery in farming, enable smallholder farmers save time and energy on the farm, improve livelihoods, enhance productivity and raise crop yields.
However, it is imperative the ministry procures simple labour-saving machines that can be operated by smallholder farmers (including women) to improve farm production, because women farmers need gender friendly machinery for their day-to-day farming activities.”
“The development of a reliable research and development base to foster sustainable agriculture is critical to achieving a viable food secured society. Thus, the availability of reliable data for planning coupled with a strong culture of crop research to aid production of climate resilient seedlings and inputs, is important for a sustainable future.
“Postharvest losses are major concern in the country, as research has shown that Nigeria’s estimated postharvest losses are put at about 50%. Despite this fact, there is no budget line in the 2024 budget that addresses postharvest loss. The Ministry of Agriculture needs to look into this critical area of Post-Harvest losses in order to improve production in the agriculture sector, especially for smallholder farmers in Delta state.
“Monitoring and Evaluation, as well as Coordination are very important in ensuring that required data are generated for improved programming. In the 2024 Agriculture budget, N35,000,000 was budget for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of Agriculture Projects (Equipping, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the PRS department) while in 2023, the allocation was ₦10,000,000. It is commendable that the allocation increased by ₦25,000,000, representing 250 per cent.
The report made the following recommendations to drive growth in the agriculture sector:
“Government should increase allocation to the agriculture sector to comply with the Malabo Declaration of 10% budgetary allocation to agriculture to promote food security and grow the state’s GDP.
“Government should ensure timely release of approved funds to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MANR). This is important against the backdrop of the poor budget performance with regard to release of fund to the ministry over the years.
“Government should ensure timely and full release of approved funds to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources as Agricultural activities are time bound.
“Public investment in agriculture should be scaled up in the area of provision of Extension Services, considering the number of farmers in the state and the importance of agriculture-centred information in enhancing agricultural production.
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources should increase the budget for MOWRSA and ensure it is timely released in order to improve food production and promote agricultural activities of smallholder women farmers in the state.
“Government should provide storage facilities such as silos, bags, and warehouses for women farmers in all the Local governments, and also avail women farmers an opportunity to hands-on training on post-harvest loss reduction.
“Government should provide appropriate labour-saving technologies and women-friendly farm machinery to small holder women farmers as majority of them work in farms that are not ‘tractorable’ and requires hand held machinery for their operations.
“Delta State Government should allocate budget for climate change mitigation and agroecology to ensure sustainable food production in the state. And also collaborate with relevant stakeholders to train the smallholder women farmers on climate resilience, encourage tree planting and other protective mechanisms across the state.
“Resources should be made available timely for effective systems for disseminating timely weather forecasts and climate information to farmers, enabling them to make informed decisions regarding farming preparation and crop planning.
“Increase capital budget to accommodate effects of inflation.
“Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Smallholder Women farmers and other key stakeholders should be actively involved in the budgetary process to capture the real needs of farmers in the State.
“Given the increasing impact of climate change on agricultural productivity, prioritizing irrigation farming is crucial for food security and economic stability. We recommend that budget line should be allocated for irrigation farming in order to increase food production and support the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, especially women and youths in the state.
“Smallholder women farmers do not have enough access to formal credit, therefore, Delta State MANR should create a yearly Strengthening Access to Credit budget line. This fund should focus on: criteria, requirements, and documentations to reduce the encumbrance majority of smallholder farmers encounter around credit schemes; Develop an enabling environment and a policy framework that will enable smallholder farmers especially women, youths living with disability have easy access to credit on single digit interest rate.
“Agricultural line items domiciled in Job Creation Office should be spelt out for ease of Monitoring and Tracking.
“To achieve diversification using agriculture, smallholders women farmers” activities should be supported by the State Government through increased budgetary provision, as they produce over 70% of the food consumed in the state.
“Extension services and Women in Agriculture should be a sub-heading under the Delta State Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (DARDA) budget.
“Since Agriculture is timebound, we recommend that agriculture budget line as contained in the Ministry’s budget should be released as and when due to catalyse agricultural production.
F.A
May 12, 2024
Tags: Agric Finanacing Agriculture Budget Delta State food production
