Diversification: Traders, Farmers Lament Poor Funding Of Agriculture

Following the growing need for the diversification of the nation’s economy owing to the crash in global oil price, Nigerian traders and small scale producers have joined forces to solicit governments at all level to improve funding of agriculture.

Making the appeal in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital on Friday, at a one-day capacity building workshop, the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) and Association of Small Scale Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN) said the budgetary provisions made for agriculture is grossly inadequate to yield the desired result of diversifying the economic base of the nation away from overreliance of oil.

Mr. Ken Ukaoha, who lamented that budgets lack connection with small scale farmers, noted decried that government must improve on its capacity for the implementation of budgetary provisions.

He call for more openness and inclusiveness in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policies, noting that budget is not an exclusive right of government.

Mr. Ukaoha who lauded Governor Umaru Tanko Almakura’s 2016 budgetary allocation to the agric sector based on actual needs, called on government to honor its commitment to the Maputo Declaration which prescribes 10 per cent of budgetary allocation to agriculture.

In order to address the seeming structural segregation of women who form the bulk of rural farming population, he advocated for a special bias for women, youths and other vulnerable groups in agricultural allocation.

In his submission, the national coordinator of ASSAPIN, Adu Charles, called on government to come forth with an articulate blueprint for harnessing the potentials of the agricultural sector rather than haphazard approach devoid of specifics on what the country intends to achieve.

Mr. Charles called on government to seize the opportunity created by the plummet in global price of oil to develop the agric sector which alone guarantees collective prosperity and wealth creation for Nigerians given the saturation in search of elusive white-collar jobs.