Abuja – A Handbook on the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) in Nigeria launched in Abuja yesterday indicated that in the last seven years, Nigeria’s budgetary allocations to agricultural sector have not exceeded 2 per cent.
Presenting the Handbook on CAADP in Nigeria at the Non- State Actors Orientation workshop on CAADP/2014 Malabo Declaration, Joint Sector Reviews and National Agricultural Investment Plans, Bar. Ken Ukaoha, the President of National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), said government investment and funding of the agricultural sector was very low as against the Maputo/Malabo commitments of at least 10 per cent public investment into the sector.
A critical look at the document showed that Nigerian government allocated 1.8 per cent of its budget to agriculture in 2011, 1.6 per cent in 2012, 1.7 per cent in 2013 and 1.4 per cent in 2014.
In 2015, budgetary allocation to agriculture was 0.9 per cent, while in 2016, it rose to 1.3 per cent and in 2017, and it was 1.8 per cent.
The report also noted that Nigeria’s Hunger and Nutrition Political Commitment Index (HANCI) of 37 in 2014-2016 was low, indicating that the political commitment to reducing hunger and malnutrition was low; besides, no remarkable progress had been made in this regard since 2015.
With regard to access to agricultural funding, there was an improvement in the level of funding by the formal banking sector as the share of loans advanced to the agriculture sector by deposit money banks increased from 1.7 per cent in 2010 to 3.3per cent in 2016.
The report further revealed that although agricultural sector had been a significant source of foreign exchange, which is about 75 per cent of non-oil export earnings, farm productivity is very low in terms of yield per hectare.
The report said: “Nigeria is one of the largest producers of rice in Africa and at the same time, one of the largest importers of rice in the world.
“Although figures on rice importation have reduced in recent times, there is still massive importation of food, especially rice, wheat, sugar, and fish, and this has continued to bleed the nation’s economy, with the four items accounting for a whopping N1trillion loss to the nation annually.”
Source : https://independent.ng/budgetary-allocations-to-agriculture-less-than-2-in-7-years-caadp-report/
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