Following the growing need for the diversification of the nation’s economy owing to the crash in global oil price, Nigerian traders and small scale producers have joined forces to solicit governments at all level to improve funding of agriculture.
The National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) and Association of Small Scale Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN) said the budgetary provisions made for agriculture is grossly inadequate to yield the desired result of diversifying the economic base of the nation.
Mr. Ken Ukaoha, who lamented that budgets lack connection with small scale farmers, noted that government must improve on its capacity for the implementation of budgetary provisions.
He also called on government to honor its commitment to the Maputo Declaration which prescribes 10 per cent of budgetary allocation to agriculture. He further advocated for a special bias for women, youths and other vulnerable groups in agricultural allocation.
The national coordinator of ASSAPIN, Adu Charles, urged the government to come forth with an articulate blueprint for harnessing the potentials of the agricultural sector rather than a haphazard approach devoid of specifics on what the country intends to achieve.
He called on government to seize the opportunity created by the plummet in global price of oil to develop the agric sector which alone guarantees collective prosperity and wealth creation for Nigerians given the saturation in search of elusive white-collar jobs.
