By Palma Ileye
Small-Scale Women Farmers Association of Nigeria, SWOFON, has called on both Federal and State Government to increase budget allocation for organic inputs, bio-pesticides and agroecology to ensure the successful implementation of agroecological projects in the country.
SWOFON made the call yesterday at a 3-Day Training of Smallholder Women Farmers on Policy Influencing and Innovation in Abuja.
Speaking at the event organised with support from GIZ Global Programme AgSys Nigeria, ActionAid Nigeria, AAN, ActionAid International, and African Women in Agricultural Research and Development, AWARD, the Association’s National President, Mrs. Fatima Gummi said that Federal and State Government need to be deliberate in collaboration with organisations and institutions that have proven record of successful agroecological farms across Nigeria.
Gummi noted that the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy, NATIP, by design holds the potential to tackle challenges confronting the agriculture sector development and its contribution to sustainable economic development.
She said that the Annual Federal Government budget for agriculture was consistent with the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy, NATIP, 2022-2027 implementation plans but the actualization of the NATIP’s robust objectives was confronted with poor allocations and poor releases by the Ministry of Finance and poor utilization by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
She said that no State in Nigeria including the Federal Capital Territory has been able to achieve the African Union Maputo declaration benchmark of 10% of public investment in agriculture which is required to achieve at least 6% growth rate for the sector as postulated in the CAADP framework stating that annual allocation for projects and programmes for women and youth in agriculture were consistently below the NATIP annual average.
She said, “With President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of state of emergency on the food security situation in the country in July 2023, one of the key areas for quick wins and results for our food and nutrition security is to focus on reducing our alarming post-harvest losses.”
She noted that postharvest losses was one of the foremost challenges faced by smallholder farmers especially women in communities in Nigeria saying that it devastates their efforts and incomes, leaving them poorer and continues to hinder Nigeria’s food and nutrition security.
According to her, Nigeria’s postharvest losses which was estimated to be N3.5 trillion annually means about N94.5 bn annual losses per 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, if shared equally, no State’s annual agriculture budget equals these massive losses.
This she said was far more than each State and FCT’s annual agriculture budgetary allocation and spending adding that this also means that about 50% of production was lost to post-harvest losses in Nigeria which was 50% income losses for smallholder farming families despite other challenges we are faced with across Nigeria.
“If nothing is done urgently, Nigeria cannot achieve food and nutrition security as our access to processing facilities is only 26%, storage facilities only 18%, transportation only 10%, market access only 21% and trainings to reduce post-harvest losses only 39%. All these are alarming level of access across the 36 States and the FCT.
“Our Budgetary allocations in the agriculture sector should not be treated as expenditure but investment. ActionAid Nigeria’s Analysis shows that each State’s Internally Generated Revenue can be fuelled up if they invest N15bn annually in the agriculture sector and the funds are spent totally and timely in Irrigation, 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, etc.), Climate Resilient Sustainable Agriculture, CRSA/Agroecology, Research and Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, as well as Coordination.
“Let us just pick one State per geo-political zone – Katsina will generate additional IGR of N136.91bn, Akwa Ibom N89.62bn, Oyo N67.79bn, Benue N64.39bn, Bauchi N30.06bn, and Ebonyi N94.60bn, respectively. These also results to unemployment reduction in each State,” SWOFON President explained.
Making recommendations, Gummi called on Federal and State Executives, National and State Houses of Assembly to Scale Up Public Investment in Agriculture, and ensure timely consideration, passage, and timely budget releases and utilization as a strategic approach to increase food production, reduce hunger and poverty and achieve the National Agricultural Transformation and Innovation Policy, NATIP, objectives and Maputo/Malabo Commitments.
She also said, “Parliamentarians should ensure that their proposed zonal intervention (constituency) projects are agricultural and evidence-based to create meaningful impact in the communities.
“As approved by the 44th National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development, NCARD; the three tiers of government should commit 10% of their annual budget to the agriculture sector to meet the 10% Maputo/Malabo Declaration required to support at least 6% growth rate for the sector as postulated in the CAADP framework.
“There should be political will to allocate at least 10% of annual budgets to the agriculture sector with appropriate budget lines so that Nigeria will be on track in the next Biennial Reporting to the African Union Heads of States and Government in line with the Malabo Declaration and Commitments of 2014.
“FMAFS, CBN and NIRSAL need to educate all farmers groups, listed vendors, manufacturers, and importers of agrochemicals about the appropriate use and the negative impact of Highly Hazardous Pesticides, HHPs, on Nigeria’s public health, environment, and foreign revenue. They should mandate agrochemical dealers in their anchor-borrower programmes to remove all HHPs from their programmes and encourage them to supply more organic inputs such as biopesticides, organic fertilizers etc.”
Furthermore, SWOFON charged the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and States Ministries to strengthen access to credit for smallholder women farmers advocating that Agriculture should create a yearly budget line to strengthen access to credit.
There was also Goodwill messages from Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, FMAFS, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation NAIC and stakeholders in the Agricultural sector to show support to SWOFON.
