Nigeria’s post-harvest losses have reached N3.5trillion while her food import bill has hit N2.47trillion, the Chairman Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Muhammad Enagi, said yesterday in Lagos.
He spoke at the National Stakeholders Consultative Meeting on the 2023 Agriculture Budget, which was organised by ActionAid, Oxfam, among others.
Enagi and other stakeholders frowned at the huge amount of cash the country spends on food importation at the expense of post-harvest losses.
They spoke against the late release of funds to the sector, adding that it has continued to impede the capacity of the federal and state governments to drive social development, including food and nutrition security within the policy trust of the diversification of the economy towards agriculture.
He said: “Nigeria’s food import bill is increasing and the highest imports of agricultural goods into the country were recorded in 2021, as products valued at N2.74 trillion were imported while local post-harvest losses are estimated at N3.5trillion annually with each state and LGA having its own large share.”
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He noted that despite the government’s efforts to improve the space for more public private partnerships (PPPs) arrangements in Nigeria’s agriculture sector, “smallholder women farmers’ access to such schemes across the country remain below 27 per cent.
Enagi,who suggested scaling up of public investment in agriculture, admonished the three tiers of government to commit 10 per cent of their budget to the agriculture sector.
“We call on federal and state executives, national and state Houses of Assembly to scale up public investment in agriculture, and ensure timely consideration, passage, and total budget releases as a strategic approach to increase food production, reduce hunger and poverty and achieve the Maputo/Malabo commitments,” he said.
The Executive Director, National Agric Extension Research and Liason Services, Prof. Ikani Emmanuel, who read the communique which was signed by over 66 stakeholders regretted that the late releases of fund to the sector continues to impede the capacity of federal and state governments to drive socio-economic development including food and nutrition security within the policy thrust of the diversification of the economy towards agriculture.
Emmanuel advised states to develop their own agriculture investment plan. “This will enable the efforts at the states and local government levels to be recognized in the overall determination of the country’s commitment to the CAADP and enable accurate data for the Biennial Review Reporting,” the communiqué said.
The stakeholders appealed to the Federal Government to develop pesticide policies and legislation that ensure that the most toxic pesticides are prohibited, and phased out in Nigeria. “To achieve this, the government needs to develop a safe sustainable food strategy that reduces the use of highly toxic synthetic chemical pesticides by 50 percent by 2030; 25 percent by 2040, a maximum five per cent by 2050 and strong support to be given to farmers in their transition towards agroecology,” the stakeholders said.
Other recommendations made included the allocation of public investments to address strategic areas that will increase the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) to at least six per cent.
The areas include extension services, access to credit, women in agriculture youths, labour saving technologies, inputs, among others.
According to stakeholders, the 2023 budget and subsequent ones should be gender-sensitive and responsive by providing line items that will address specific challenges that affect women farmers.