The Kwara State Government has set up a 15-man committee to oversee farm inputs distribution to farmers in the state as the rainy season begins to set in.
In a statement by Oladipo Temple, the Assistant Press Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, he revealed that membership of the committee include the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Oloruntoyosi Thomas as Chairman, while other members are – Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community Development, Commissioner For Planning and Economic Development and the Senior Special Assistant on Community Development.
It was gathered that more members were also drawn from the Civil Society Organisations who will complement the efforts of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs. Funke Sokoya; the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, and the Managing Director, Kwara ADP, Dr. Khadijat Alege.
The rest are – the Kwara State Chairman of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, Kwara State AFAN Chairman, State Coordinator, State Chairman, Soyabean Association, Representative of Women in Agric, Representative of Maize Farmers Association, and the Director of Agriculture Services, and Hajia Hafsat Hussein, who will serve as the Secretary.
The Committee is to ensure the smooth distribution of the inputs, proper coordination and logistics, and other responsibilities, which may arise before, during, and after the exercise.
The Commissioner stated that the committee will set out before the week runs out to distribute the inputs to the farmers in accordance with the details of the captured beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, a consortium of Civil Society Organisations with concern for agriculture development and women farmers have called for increased budgetary allocation to the sector in Kwara State.
While briefing journalists on the analysis of the 2024 Kwara State Agriculture Budget carried out by the CSOs in Ilorin, the state capital on Monday, the group, led by the CCEPE CEO, Abdurrahman Ayuba, lamented that the total state budget for 2024 is lower than the 2023 budgetary allocation.
The group which included the Budget Committee Group (BCG) in conjunction with the Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria, among others with support from Actionaid Nigeria and the Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication noted: “From our analysis, it is apparent that the percentage of the total agriculture budget to the total state budget is low compared with that of 2023.
“The percentage of agriculture budget to the total state budget in 2023 is 2.12 per cent while that of 2024 is 1.49 per cent. There was a drop of 0.63 per cent. The 1.49 per cent budgeted for agriculture in 2024 is far below the international benchmark.
“Therefore, we urge the government to increase its agriculture budget to meet the 10 per cent Maputo/Malabo Declaration and Commitment.”
The group also advocated that more attention should be given to smallholder farmers in terms of budgetary provision for hand-held devices such as mini tractors, weeders, planters, etc.
“This will reach more farmers’ needs than the big tractors which smallholder farmers find difficult to access and maintain.
“We advise the state government to seek collaboration with relevant stakeholders like the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation for the production of farmers’ friendly equipment. The state government should partner with relevant stakeholders such as the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization NCAM for the fabrication/production/purchase of Smallholder Farmers’ friendly devices e.g. Mini tractor, weeders etc,” the group urged.
Ayuba, who pointed out that over 70 per cent of the population of women are involved in agric processing, recommended continuous training for women farmers on modern farming techniques and best practices to increase productivity along the agriculture value chain.
“We also recommend that the government should outline various programmes targeted at youth empowerment/employment through agriculture and make realistic budgetary provisions.
“With access to farm demonstrations for smallholder women farmers at 5 per cent, farmers field school at 30 per cent, training at 50 per cent and information service at 15 per cent, there is an urgent need for the Kwara State Government to increase the allocation to extension services and ensure total cash releases and expenditure,” he concluded.