2019 Budget: Stakeholders Fault Delta Govt Allocation To Agricultural Sector

….Says It Didn’t Meet Maputo Declaration

Stakeholders in the Agricultural Sector have said the Delta State Government allocation to agriculture has never met the Maputo Declaration of 10% from 2013 – 2018.

In a communique after a one day stakeholders consultative meeting on Delta State 2019 agriculture budget held in Asaba, Delta State capital, they said, “Budgetary allocation to Agriculture has been in a lukewarm progressive ascending of 0.59, 0.63 and 0.90 for 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The One Day Stakeholders Consultative meeting was organized by Environmental and Rural Mediation Centre, (ENVIRUMEDIC) in collaboration with the with Budget Committee Group, (BCG) with the support from ActionAid Nigeria, (AAN).

The Communique was signed by Mrs. Joy Tobele, Initiative for Peace and Stability (IPAS) and Mr. Fred Nohwo – ECOTRACE, Edewor Egedegbe, CEO Value Rebirth & Empowerment Initiative (VREI) Mrs. Grace Isadjoku president Smallholders Women Farmers Network ( SHOWFAN) Idugala Okezi, Enegide Lucky , ENVIRUMEDIC, Rachael Misan Ruppee , President Smallscale Women Farmers Organization of Nigeria, (SWOFON), Delta Chapter, and Mrs Juliana Osakwe Secretary, (SHOWFAN).

The communique reads in part: “Mobilization of Rural Women for Sustainable Agriculture, (MORWOSA) was not cited in the 2018 budget as a budget line item.

“It is a known fact that if women are empowered the entire nation is equally empowered.

“Allocation to agriculture has never met the Maputo declaration of 10% from 2013 – 2018.

“Youth Agriculture Enterprise Programme, (YAGEP) of the Delta State Government did not fall into any budget line item to ascertain how much was committed to it in the 2018 budget.

“It is commendable to note that N200 million was allocated to ADP in 2018 as against N50 million and N70 million for 2016 and 2017 respectively.

“It is worrisome to note that a whooping sum of N64.1 billion was meant for miscellaneous in the budget.

“The sum of N1.2 billion was allocated to the Job Creation Office with no clear mention of beneficiaries and location of programmes and project it is meant to achieve.”

The Stakeholders expressed worries over the development saying, “It will give room for ambiguity and inability to effectively monitor implementation.”

They advocated increase allocation to agriculture in a bid to comply with the Maputo Declaration of 10% allocation to agriculture annually.

While noting that majority of farmers in the State are Smallholder Women Farmers, the Stakeholders stressed that they should be recongnised in the state annual budgeting to agriculture.

The Stakeholders also suggested a “Re-introduction of Mobilization of Rural Women for Sustainable Agriculture, (MORWSA) in the budget for gender sensitivity.

“Allocate funds for Agriculture should be released accordingly and as at when due.

“Extension services and Women in Agriculture should be a sub-heading under the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) in the budget.

“The allocation to job creation office should be broken down in details for ease of monitoring and tracking.

“Government should adopt standard budgeting procedure of zero budgeting, which did not give room for Omnibus and Miscellaneous as budget line items.

“The budget should be participatory, gender sensitive and inclusive to reflect Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs).

“Civil Society Organisations, (CSOs), Smallholder Women farmers and other key agricultural stakeholder should be actively involved in the budgetary process.

“Government should ensure that the budgeting process is free from political considerations as it has made redundant the administrative process.”

The Stakeholders also said ENVIRUMEDIC, Budget Committee Group, (BCG) in collaboration with SHOWFAN/SWOFON should approach the Delta State House of Assembly to demand their inclusion in the 2019 budget and budgetary process.

They also said media advocacy should be strongly employed in stressing the need to increase allocation to agriculture while Projects/projects meant for Ministry, Departments and Agencies, (MDAs) should not be given to politicians and technocrat.

They however commended ENVIRUMEDIC in collaboration with BCG for the initiative to put together the platform for interaction in other to move agriculture forward as well as ensure food security.

In attendance at the One day Stakeholders Consultative meeting were representatives of Civil Societies, CSOs, Smallholder Women Farmers Network, SHOWFAN, Small-scale Women Farmers Organization Nigeria, SWOFON, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Ministry of Economic Planning, ENVIRUMEDIC and the media.