The joint committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Agricultural Production and Services of the National Assembly on Thursday advocated a gradual increase in the budget allocation to agriculture to ensure food security in the country.
They gave the charge in Abuja during the execution of the 2024 budget and the 2025 budget proposal presented by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari.
In his remark, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agricultural Production Services and Rural Development, Senator Saliu Mustapha, said Nigeria must finance the agricultural sector by allocating more resources to address food insecurity.
However, he noted that the allocation for the sector in 2025 was appreciable and a sign that things will improve in the not-distant future.
He said: “The allocation of approximately 4.2% of the total budget to the agricultural sector in 2024 was a positive development, in line with the commitment Nigeria made in the Maputo Declaration to commit at least 10%.
“This is a significant improvement for Nigeria’s economy and the future of its agricultural sector. The effort is commendable and the President is called upon to do more.
“In the year 2024, the sector, despite climate change and insecurity in the nation, contributed significantly to the Nigerian economy. This is highlighted by the report from the National Statistics Office, which reported an initial growth of 0.18% in 2024.
“I assure you of our willingness and commitment to work assiduously to pass the 2025 budget that will reposition the agricultural sector in line with the President's Renewed Hope Agenda.
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“I must commend the efforts of Mr. President, President Bola Tinubu and the Executive in attempting to reposition the agricultural sector, and the concerted effort to once again make it the pillar of the Nigerian economy.”
In a brief remark, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Agricultural Production and Services, Hon. Bello Kaoje, who agreed with his Senate counterpart, said the agricultural sector is key to all sectors of the economy and therefore cannot be ignored.
According to him, the sector needs all the attention it deserves to help the country address its food security challenges, which he said will spur development.
On the other hand, a member of the Committee, Senator Adamu Aleiro, lamented that Nigeria is yet to meet the allocation of 10 per cent of the National Budget to agriculture to meet the threshold of the Malabo declaration.
He also expressed his displeasure over the huge reduction in allocation to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, which he said is the key to food security in this country.
He said: “Their joint mandate is to ensure massive food production for the country. And you know very well that in the next eight or ten years Nigeria will be the third largest country in the world in terms of population. Only after China and India, the next country will be Nigeria.
“With this allocation going to the agricultural sector, how do we serve the huge population that will receive this type of allocation for the agricultural sector?
“Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, I think it is necessary for both the House of Representatives and the Senate to make a very strong recommendation.
“The House of Representatives has made a very strong recommendation to the Appropriations Committee for an upward review of this appropriation. The 2 percent reduction, honestly, is alarming. I would expect an increase from 4 percent to 6 or 8 percent, according to the statement we made in Maputo or Malabo or wherever.
“Mr. President, I think we are making a great recommendation. If we want to take care of the next population, we really have to do a lot and this is compounded by the fact that this year we had terrible floods that affected food production, especially for farmers engaged in agricultural activities within the river plains be it the niger river anywhere or whatever.
“This has affected food production in this country and I am one of those who do not believe in importing food, although some have recommended to the federal government that we should import food, no, instead we should involve our farmers in mass production. of food in both the dry and rainy seasons.
“We are lucky to have groundwater and that is why I cannot understand the reduction of this allocation to the agricultural sector. Mr. President, you distinguished your colleagues because agriculture in Nigeria is still at subsistence level, mechanization is required and yield per hectare needs to be improved. Currently, the yield per hectare ranges between two and four percent.
“We need to increase it to about six to eight percent that you get in other climates like India, China, Indonesia and other places. Even in Pakistan. Therefore, there is a need for us to focus heavily on providing irrigation facilities to our farmers and this can only happen if there is more allocation to the agricultural sector.
“I will be the task of both the executive and legislative arms of the government. We, for our part, are ready to collaborate with the ministry to ensure that all Nigerians have access to food.”
Earlier, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, who presented the Ministry's proposed budget estimates for 2025, said the sector needs urgent intervention to contribute its quota to the development of the nation.
He said: “I would like to make it clear that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has the mandate to ensure food security, employment generation and wealth creation across the commodity, agribusiness and agricultural value chain. rural development activities in the country.
“The National Agricultural Innovation and Technology Policy from 2022 to 2027, NATI, is the guiding tool to drive the innovative research system process, the holistic drive of mechanization, the provision of rural infrastructure and the development of the value chain of commodities for economic diversification, livelihood opportunities and income generation in the country.
“In line with the presidential priority, the Ministry is acting in accordance with the 24 objectives defined for youth and women empowerment, food security, economic growth, job creation and poverty eradication.
“The direction of the policy is to provide an enabling environment for public-private partnership for agribusiness companies in the country. It is also classified into immediate, short, medium and long term. The details of these plans are highlighted in the Ministry's submission to the Committee.”
Highlighting the performance of the Ministry’s budget for 2024 and the proposed budget for 2025, he said: “The Chief Ministry had a total allocation of 250,396,8721.9. The target amount was a total allocation of N250,396,821.9.
“This includes 10,626,015,992 Naira for personnel expenses, which represents 4.2% of the budget. N1,034,642,376 for overheads, representing 0.41% of the budget. And N238,485,350,353 for capital projects and programmes, representing 95.24% of the ministry's budget.
The analysis of the 2024 capital budget allocation for the main ministry is as follows. The main ministry's budget performance for 2024 is as follows. The N10,626,015,992,000 was allocated for personal expenses. Additionally, the sum of N1,034,642,376 was allocated for cost overruns.
“Furthermore, the entire sum was released and utilized. In the capital cost allocation of N238,485,350,353, the sum of N32,952,649,987 has been released to the Ministry, and this amount represents 13.82% of the capital allocation for the parent Ministry.
“The released capital fund has been fully committed to various projects and programs of the Ministry, in line with the 2024 allocations. The multilateral loans consist of six projects, amounting to N29,504,742,593. Normally, the full amount will be deducted at source for the purpose for which the internal revenue was generated.
“The Ministry projected that in 2024 the Ministry achieved it. The tax reform, through the Ministry, devastated investment and acquired new and differentiated programs. A total that represents 111.8% of the amount of investment that was made in recent years.”