ibironkeeniola 
A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has called for budgetary provision for women farmers in subsequent agriculture budgets of Kwara state.
The coalition made the call at the weekend in Ilorin at a press briefing by its Budget Committee on Public Financing of Agriculture (PFA) Project to analyse 2021 Kwara state budget on agriculture sector.
The project is being financed by Actionaid Nigeria and implemented by the Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE).
The coalition commended the state government for improving the allocation to the agricultural sector from 1.88 percent in 2020 to 3.09 per cent in 2021.
PFA Coordinator, Mr Abdulrahman Ayuba, said it was unfortunate that there was no provision for women farmers in the 2021 budget though they produce 75 per cent of the food consumed in the country.
‘’We therefore recommend specific budgetary allocation for small holder women farmers in subsequent budget being a major stakeholder.
‘’And women farmers and youth should be granted access to interest free credit facilities,’’ Ayuba said.
He also noted that the 3.09 per cent budgeted for agriculture in the 2021 budget was below the international benchmark of 10 per cent.
The PFA Coordinator commended the state government for allocating a budget line for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and strongly recommend that the M&E budget should be sustained and improved upon in subsequent years.
‘’CSOs and Small Holder Women Farmer Associations should be involved to achieve results and impacts.
‘’A budget line for credit should be provided in the budget to support small holder farmers, especially women, which could be provision of training support to access existing CBN credit facilities.
He also added that all agricultural related activities budget should be domiciled in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development budget to ensure transparency.
‘’The Research and Development components of the budget, particularly for the Local Government should be clearly spelt out for effective Monitoring and Evaluation.
‘’Climate resilience for Sustainable agriculture should be budgeted to support organic farming, mitigate and adapt to climate change.
‘’We advocate the government to make provision for organic fertilizer which will not only reduce the effect of global warming but also ensure production of quality agricultural produce,’’ Ayuba said.
The participating organisations are CCEPE, SWOFON, Welfare for Children and Teenagers Initiative, Fulfilling Dreams Foundation (FDF), Organisation for the Sustainance of Nigeria Environment, FEMCOM and Meadows Community and Development Outreach (MCDO).
Others are Worthy Life Education and Health Foundation (WLEHF), Badebare Human Development Consult, Connected Development (CODE), Impact Driven Initiative for Sustainable Development and Joint National Association Persons With Disabilities (JONAPWD).
SOURCE: TRIBUNE