Budget For Agriculture Not Enough In Nigeria

After a consensus of the arguments and opinions put forward by farmers and agricultural practitioners at the Northern geo-economic zone pre-summit town hall meeting in Ilorin at the weekend, stakeholders in agriculture has that governments at different levels must stop paying lip service to agriculture so that Nigeria can overcome food scarcity in the country, adding that budget allocation to the sector must triple what it is at present.

Among other problems identified as factors bedeviling productivity in the sector were land tenure system, lack of modern farming implements and machinery, huge capital incurred in land clearing, insecurity, inaccessible agro-credit facility, and lack of storage facilities and insincerity of insurance institutions to agriculture.

Speaking at the event, the CEO, Agro Nigeria and National Coordinator, Feed Nigeria Summit, Mr. Richard Mark-Mbram, said the initiative was private sector-driven but with technical support from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

According to him, Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), All Farmers Associations of Nigeria (AFAN) and Shongai Center for Excellence, Porto Novo was in the frontline of the initiative.

The summit, he said, was expected to position Nigeria at the forefront of agriculture productivity in Africa and make Nigerians agriculture the key to a successful continent food security and nutrition enhancement bid.

Comrade David Kayode Ehindero, Sub-National Coordinator for the Northern geo-economic zone of the Feed Nigeria Summit and Chairman, Agric House Ventures, expressed displeasure at government’s insincerity in the implementation of formulated policies in the sector.

If the current drive towards diversification to agriculture would succeed, the sector must be given the deserved attention by both public and private sectors, Ehindero submitted.