The Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) has called on the Kogi State government to review the 2020 budgetary allocation for the state agriculture ministry so as to accommodate credit and loan facilities to farmers
State Coordinator of SWOFON, Haija Safiya Yahaya, made the request last week in Lokoja at a joint news conference with the Public Financing of Agriculture (PFA) Committee.
PFA is a programme of Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change of Development (PIBCID) and Supported by ActionAid Nigeria to address issues of budgetary allocations in the agriculture sector.
Yahaya said that the adjustment was necessary to avert the looming food crisis arising in the country as a result of the effects of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on farming and agribusinesses.
The state coordinator noted that there was no provision for commercial agriculture credit schemes in the state.
She added that the aforementioned situation was critical as farmers could barely access assistance and credit from the federal government to manage the economic realities posed by the pandemic
Yahaya said, “We noticed the downward review of funding of inputs to farmers in the state and we are pleading with the government to reconsider, so as to assist more farmers in this farming season.
“We are also appealing to the government to make provisions for credit and loan schemes to assist farmers during this farming season, if we must avert the looming food crisis.”
On her part, Programme Officer for PIBCID, Mrs Inkpi Ali, explained that Nigeria was a signatory to the Maputo Declaration of 2003 that advised signatory countries to earmark at least 10 per cent of its annual budgets to agriculture.
Ali said, “Since the declaration by 13 African countries, Nigeria is yet to meet the 10 per cent commitment, with Kogi committing only 4.6 per cent to the Agriculture sector in its 2020 budget”.
“If agriculture is to serve as a means of diversifying the economy of Kogi State as promised in the ‘New Direction’ blueprint of the state government, then allocations to the sector which has been grossly inadequate should be improved upon.”