The Nigerian Senate has urged the executive to ensure the allocation of at least 10 per cent of total annual budget revenue to agricultural production.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture Production, Services, and Rural Development, Sen. Salihu Mustapha (APC, Kwara) made the call in Abuja on Monday at the joint budget defence session of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
Mustapha said the Senate and House committees on Agriculture Production, Services, and Rural Development are concerned about the challenges facing the agricultural sector.
He noted that despite the challenges, the sector remained the largest contributor to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) from the non-oil sector, with over 20 per cent.
He lamented that the budgetary allocation to the sector remained a far cry from the 10 per cent of the nation’s budget per the Maputo Declaration, to which Nigeria subscribed.
“The agricultural sector has the largest potential to lead millions of Nigerians out of poverty and provide much-needed food security.
“It is, therefore, imperative that the sector be given the utmost priority in national economic policies and future budgets.
“I, therefore, call on the executive to exercise the political will to allocate at least 10 per cent of the national budgets and revenues to the agriculture sector,” Mustapha said.
He said the budget defence process was not only important but also sacrosanct.
He said both chambers of the 10th Assembly had demonstrated readiness and commitment to work together to pass the 2024 budget in good time.