The National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) has described as ridiculous the N76,753,672,273 proposed budgetary allocation for the agriculture sector. X-raying the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, President of the Association, Ken Ukaoha, said the percentage for agriculture is a meagre 1.26 per cent, a far cry from the 2003 AU-Maputo Declaration, which requires countries to allocate at least 10 per cent of an annual budget to agriculture.
Ukaoha said that over the years, the body language of successive governments have suggested Nigeria signed the agreement alongside other countries as a face saving measure. He said the yearly appropriation to the sector, since 2011 to 2016, indicated 1.8, 1.6, 1.7, 1.4, 0.9 and 1.25 percentages. This, he said, is a far cry from what smaller countries in Africa are budgeting for the sector.
Comparing Nigeria's agriculture budget with that of other developing countries, he said Malawi has overshot the Maputo agreement and has reached close to 27 per cent; Zambia, Burundi and Mali - 10 per cent; Niger - 13 per cent; Sierra Leone - close to 3 per cent; and Nigeria - down the ladder with 1.25 per cent.
Ukaoha disclosed that 36.54 per cent (N28,052,924,405) is planned for personnel costs; 2.21 per cent (N1,699,622,233) proposed for overheads; and 61.23 per cent (N47,001,125,634) for capital expenditure, saying this means: the share for agriculture as a percentage of the total capital budget is just 2.54 per cent, while the bulk of the money would be spent on administration and personnel. According to Ukaoha, this is not likely to ensure food security.
He, however, said the present administration deserves commendation for its determination to reduce overheads, personnel costs and other service wide votes by 7, 8 and 19 per cent, respectively.
Source: The Guardian
Source: The Guardian
No comments:
Post a Comment