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EME!{A EZEKIEL . 路=,c路:':-i; HE Foderal Government is planni ng 10 invest
ti r1
! j N745.2bn between }:'., 20 n and 2013 as part of re newed efforts to revamp the agricultura l sector and enhance food security. This is conta ined in a document on the Federal Governm ent's new inves tment
Blueprint
for
Agriculture a nd FoodSecurity, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday. Specifically, the docume nt stated, "The lotal sum of N745.24bn has been proposed
for
tAl .
~e~ '
investment
in the agricu ltural sector under the First National Implementation Plan of the Vision 2020." The agricultura l sector is slrategic for the country's food security. e mployment generation , wealth creation and poverty reduction as over
65 per cent of the country's labour force is engaged in the sector.
Ironically. over the last 20 years, agriculture's value added per capita has risen by less than one per cent an nually with the resulta nt effect of rising food a nd raw mate rials import bills
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and ueclining level o f food sufficiency
curre nil,. plaguerl by policy
Desp ite the Federal Governm ent" s laudable policies and huge budgetary a llocation to the sector, the country currently spends about N450bn a nnually on the importation of major food commodi ties such as rice, sugar, milk and fish. For instance, latest statistics from the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that the country spentN 155bn on importation of rice in 2010. Similarly, the government' s huge spending on fertilizer subsidy has not impacted on the sector. In the 2009
as we ll as inefficiency in the imple mentation of various aimed at programmes boosting food security. According to findings, in 2009, more than N400bn
crop season, Nigeria spent
N50bn to purchase 500,000 metric tons of fertil izer. While the scheme is inte nded to benefit small-scale farmers for increased crop yields, the real beneficiaries have been governm ent official., fertilizer merchants and agents. The same app lies to the commodity
price
support
schemes, the stra tegic grain reserve schem e , the river basin
development authorities and scrapped commodity boards only be ne fited merchants,
and
fu nd ing
inconsistency
was injected into the sector,
wh ile in 2010, agriculture accounted for only 3 .7 per cent of budgetary allocation (recurrent N34.4bn a nd capital N49.9bnl . However, between
and 2005, government's fund ing for the sector was characterised by inconsistency. In 1977, agriculture's share of the national budget was less than one per cent; in 1980. 1.3 per cent; 1982, 4 .2 per cent; 1983, six per cent; 1984, two per cent; 1985, five per cent; 1993, 3 .2 per cent; 2000, one per cent; 2001 , 4 .2 per cent a nd 2005, 1.6 per cent. But with the investment plan for the sector. the Federal said it plann~d to reduce the present level food import by 50 per cent by 2013; encourage the rehabilitation of a ll existing
contractors and government
irrigation
agents a nd not the smallscale farme rs. In vestigations also revealed that the
a nd develop a n agricultural land policy that will address the problems of soil fertility by 2011.
facilities;
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1 Scnnlrost Freezer
FAR EAST MERCANTILE CO. L TO
Ptot 721 , Adetokunbo Adernol. Street,
Victoria Island, lagos. e-mail : Scanfrost@fmclgrp.com.