Though the records presented to the National Assembly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security indicate that there has been an increase in agricultural proceeds within the last three years, the ministry says it has had to battle with challenges, including structural factors. Part of these challenges are the limited resources available for its operations, late release of allocated funds, insecurity and high cost of inputs, as well as structural bottlenecks. Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, made this known during the budget defence exercise at the National Assembly. He said that apart from the fact that the Nigerian government is yet to meet the 10% threshold of the national budget to agriculture, allocated funds are hardly released in full for the ministry to meet its obligations to farmers and other stakeholders in the agriculture sector.
For instance, while the agriculture sector is projected, in the 2026 budget, to receive about ₦1 trillion in total allocation, he said what actually would come to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is approximately ₦262 billion for capital expenditure and about ₦19.18 billion for recurrent costs, including personnel and overheads. Even then, after the approval, the minister said, the ministry has to contend with the uncertainty of release of the allocated funds. He substantiated the claim by saying that about 30 per cent of the capital allocation for the 2025 budget, representing roughly ₦18 billion, is yet to be released to the ministry.
Besides that, the impact of the macroeconomic climate, over which he said his ministry has no control, and the constraints in the availability of inputs like fertilizer, which production is impacted by the gas pricing policies, also pose a challenge to farmers who look up to the ministry for support. The minister urged lawmakers to support policy interventions that would improve access to inputs, support domestic fertiliser production, and reduce cost pressures across the agricultural value chain. Abdullahi, who said that more attention needed to be put on the use of technology to improve agricultural proceeds, disclosed that the contribution of the agriculture sector to the Gross Domestic Product, GDP increased from 24.05 per cent in 2022 and 24.10 per cent in 2023 to 29.44 per cent in 2024. He said further that the second quarter of 2025 recorded 26.17 per cent.
He, therefore, canvassed for timely release of allocated funds to enable the ministry give the required support to drive increased production, strengthen value chains, and improve food availability nationwide.
