The North Central representative of non-state actors on the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP), Abdulrahman Akindele has commended the Nigerian Senate’s recent push for the allocation of at least ten percent of the total annual budget revenue to the agricultural sector.
It would be recalled that the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture Production, Services, and Rural Development, Salihu Mustapha made the call during a joint budget defense session of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Abuja on Monday, expressing concerns about the challenges facing the agricultural sector.
Akindele, while speaking to RoyalTimes, acknowledged the Senate’s decision as a result of recent engagements, particularly citing a retreat with the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. He explained that during the gathering, senators recognized the necessity of allocating a substantial portion, starting at ten percent, to agriculture to facilitate significant development in the sector.
He pointed out the alignment of this proposal with the Maputo Declaration of 2003, where African Union heads of state emphasized the need to allocate a minimum of ten percent of the national budget to agriculture. Akindele highlighted the potential impact of this allocation on the sector’s growth, Gross Domestic Product, employment rates, and poverty reduction across the continent.
Highlighting Africa’s persistent poverty challenges, Akindele emphasized the potential positive outcomes of channeling a significant portion of the budget into agriculture, a sector involving a majority of Africans. He noted potential benefits such as increased productivity, employment opportunities, and foreign exchange earnings.
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