NASS advocates Adequate budgetary allocation to Agriculture.

The Joint Committee of the National Assembly on Agriculture and Food Security has expressed worry over the insufficient allocation of funds to support the Federal Government’s initiatives aimed at boosting mass food production in the country.

This concern was raised shortly after the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, presented the 2024 budget performance and the 2025 budget proposal for the ministry before the committee.

In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Salihu Mustapha, urged the Federal Government to allocate adequate funds to enable the ministry to effectively pursue its mission of achieving food security in Nigeria through increased food production.

He assured the committee’s commitment to fast-tracking the budgetary process for smooth implementation but informed Nigerians of the committee’s strong concern regarding the inadequate funding of the ministry.

He added that the joint committee observed the urgent need to increase the ministry’s budgetary provision, which has been reduced to about 2 percent.

Senator Salihu Mustapha further appealed to the Federal Government to review the current envelope system for the ministry to enable it to fulfill its mandate of increasing food production and ensuring food security in the country.

Also the Co-Chairman from the House, Bello Kaoje, concurred with Senator Mustapha’s remarks and reiterated the committee’s readiness to review the budgetary provisions in a manner aligned with achieving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda of providing sufficient food in the country to ensure food security.

Commenting on the budget, Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero, a strong advocate for domestic food production over importation, expressed serious concerns about the budget estimate.

He proposed a review aimed at increasing the allocation to achieve the objective of ensuring food security in Nigeria.

He also said without proper funding of the sector we could not achieve the Nation’s target of poverty eradication, food sufficiency and diversification efforts.

The entire members of the joint committee unanimously agreed on the proposal to increase the ministry’s allocation for optimal results.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, presented the budget estimate in line with the provisions, emphasizing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is committed to ensuring the availability of food and achieving food security objectives.

He highlighted that in last year’s budget, President Tinubu made significant interventions, including the provision of 4,000 tractors to enhance agricultural production in the country.

The Minister expressed optimism about redoubling efforts this year.

Senator Kyari also expressed confidence that with President Tinubu’s commitment, in collaboration with the National Assembly committees on agriculture, the ministry would overcome challenges and achieve its desired goals.

The joint committee, in turn, commended the ministry’s notable achievements, particularly surpassing its revenue targets, and urged it to build on this success in the coming year.