Stakeholders in agriculture in Kwara State have asked the state government to shift reliance on rainfed agriculture to irrigation farming to address food security and the high cost of food items.

According to the 18-point communique issued at the end of a one-day consultative meeting on the 2023 state agriculture budget involving the Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE) and the Budget Committee Group in collaboration with the state Ministry of Agriculture and Smallscale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON) in Ilorin, the agric stakeholders said that the need arose because agriculture and climate change are interwoven.

The people also encouraged the state government to make provision for organic fertilizers and other climate-friendly inputs to improve agric practice and farmers’ productivity.

Some other key issues that were addressed at the stakeholders’ meeting include the need to increase budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector from 3.59 per cent to 10 per cent in line with Maputo and Malabo declaration.

The meeting, which appreciated the state government for increasing agriculture budgetary allocation from 3.05 per cent in 2021 to 3.59 per cent in 2022, craved more increase in subsequent years.

The meeting also said that the focus of the state government should be on the performance of agriculture budget allocation rather than figure allocation.

“Farmers should explore social investment programmes from the Federal Government for credit facilities.

“The farm inputs and other empowerment programmes for farmers should be targeted to benefit the real farmers as against political farmers.

“Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should involve CSO’s and SWOFON in the preliminary level of budget preparation in continuation of the practice started in 2020.

“There should be timely distribution of inputs to farmers for maximum outputs.

“It is encouraged that all benefits for the women farmers should be channelled through SWOFON because of their organized structure.

“Government should consider agricultural insurance for smallholders farmers at the farm gate.

“Access to tractors by women farmers as well as clearing of farmlands for women farmers at a discount rate.

“Government should assist in creating accessible roads from farms to markets in order to reduce loss and cost.

“Establishment of storage facilities in order to reduce post-harvest losses, while government should promote establishment of local Silos to encourage storage and reduce wastage.

“Mechanisation should be encouraged among women farmers.

“Government’s monitoring and evaluation must be active in tracking budget performance of agriculture and related intervention programmes.

“Women farmers want farm inputs to be revived.”