The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture Production, Services, and Rural Development, Sen. Salihu Mustapha has encouraged the executive to ensure the allocation of a minimum of 10 percent of the total annual budget revenue to agricultural production.
Mustapha made the call during a joint budget defense session of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security at Abuja.
He said it was imperative that the sector be given the utmost priority in national economic policies and future budgets, adding that the agricultural sector has the largest potential to lead millions of Nigerians out of poverty and provide much-needed food security
The Chairman said the Senate and House committees on agriculture production, services and rural development were 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 percent.
He lamented that the budgetary allocation to the sector remained a far cry from the 10 percent of the nation’s budget per the Maputo Declaration, to which Nigeria subscribed.
“I therefore, call on the executive to exercise the political will to allocate at least 10 percent of the national budgets and revenues to the agriculture sector,” Mustapha said.
