The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) says it will begin to monitor the implementation of agricultural budget in the country for accountability.
Chief Daniel Okafor, the Vice President of the association, said in Abuja on Wednesday, that the budget monitoring would be done in all the states of the federation.
The vice president in reaction to the assent of the 2018 appropriation bill by President Muhammadu Buhari said the aim is to ensure that real farmers in the rural areas are reached and also benefit from the implementation.
Dr TundeArosanyin, the National Coordinator, Zero Hunger Commodity Farmers advised the government to avoid gaps during the budget implementation especially as it concerned agriculture.
Arosanyin, who is also the National Technical Adviser of AFAN, said that allocation to the agriculture sector was 3.2 per cent which was less than the 10 per cent budget agreed during the Maputo declaration of 2003.
Mr Nnimmo Bassey, an agriculture and environmental expert said that paucity of fund in the agriculture sector was capable of causing delay in plans of the agriculture ministry.
Bassey called for robust investment to revive and empower extension officers to provide the needed support to our farmers especially smallholder farmers who the masses depended on for food.
He also advised the government to also invest in soil-enriching agro-ecological farming methods to shift away from food production that depended on toxic chemicals, artificial fertilisers and unnatural genetic modified seeds.
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