Nigerian women farmers under the umbrella of the Small-Scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria ( SWOFON) and the Community of Agriculture Non-State Actors (COANSA) in collaboration with ActionAid Nigeria have decried the declining budget allocation to the agriculture sector, saying that the government has not been walking its talks in the pursuit of food security.
This concern was expressed on Friday by the women at a Press conference in Abuja, where they urged President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to, as a matter of urgency, review the budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector.
The women stated that the government’s purported declaration of emergency in the country’s agriculture and the declining budgetary allocation, were contradictions that make Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of nations.
The National President of SWOFON, Fatima Bala-Gummi said that reducing the budgetary allocation to agriculture in 2025 appropriation Bill does not show any commitment to a process that will usher in food security in the country.
“ We are deeply dismayed and unsettled by the future of our country’s food and nutrition security, given the shockingly insufficient allocations, untimely and little releases, and lack of total capital releases to the agriculture sector.
“This sector, which should be our President’s top priority, if funded adequately will address the hunger and hardship citizens are currently enduring”
The women in the speech co-delivered by their representatives, noted that in spite of the upward review of the National budget from N49.7 trillion to N54.2 trillion, the allocation to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security declined by 36.19 percent from a total of N996.901 billion in 2024 to N636.08 billion in the 2025 budget proposal.
While the women commended some of the initiatives of the present administration, which they said have added appreciable values to the efforts of farmers in food production across the country, they called for urgent steps to be taken to address the budgetary decline.
Among their recommendations to the government includes, “ the President and the State governors should take charge of the agriculture sector for our food and nutrition security by deliberate massive investments in extension services, Access to Credit, Women in agriculture, youth in agriculture, appropriate labour-saving technologies, inputs, post-harvest losses reduction supports ( processing facilities, storage facilities, trainings, market access.
“ The recapitalization of the Bank of Agriculture, which was started by the previous administration, has faced unnecessary delays. We insist that it be completed within the first quarter of 2025, as committed, and that the full N1.5 trillion be promptly released to guarantee its successful implementation”.
