ActionAid Nigeria in collaboration with Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) has said the non-release of budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector is crippling their farming activities.
The NGOs called on governments at all levels to ensure real and timely release of budgetary allocation to boost food security across the country.
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In a joint press conference in Lokoja on Friday, the Kogi State Coordinator of SWOFON, Safiya Yahaya, and Chairperson of the groups’ budget committee, Matthias Okpanachi, said if nothing drastic is done shortly, their farming business will grind to a halt.
Both NGOs appraised the approved budget for the year 2022 in Kogi State and demanded a critical review of the existing policies and framework on agriculture so that it can attract budget formulation and implementation in agriculture.
“There is the need to increase funding to the agricultural sector to meet up with its commitment in the state.
“The increase should be channelled to capital expenditure and increase in overheads capable of facilitating the realisation of the sector’s objectives,” Yahaya said.
The NGOs noted that agriculture funding should be extended to “extension services, access to credit, women in agriculture, youth in agriculture, appropriate labour-saving, technologies, inputs, post-harvest losses reduction, research and development, monitoring and evaluation as well as coordination.”
