ANALYSIS: Buhari advises African leaders on agricultural finance. Does he lead by example?

On January 25, President Muhammadu Buhari urged African leaders to allocate 10% of their national budgets to the agricultural sector to promote food security.

Mr. Buhari also called on his counterparts to adopt innovative policies that ensure citizens eat what they produce and export the surplus.

He noted that it is imperative to feed Africa and that leaders must ensure that the well-being of the people remains a priority.

‘‘To be successful, we must strongly support farmers. There is no doubt that we must subsidize our farmers, but we must do so transparently, eliminate rent-seeking behaviors and provide effective support to farmers,” Mr Buhari said in his goodwill message at the summit. Heads of State Feed Africa. and the government.

''The share of budget allocation to agriculture should be increased across Africa, especially for investments in critical public goods, such as research and development, infrastructure, especially roads, irrigation and energy.

“As leaders, let us resolutely respect the allocation of 10% of our budgets to agriculture, as agreed in the Malabo Declaration of African Heads of State and Government. We must reduce the rate of rural exodus to the cities through the development of rural areas. »

Nigeria's allocation to agriculture relative to the total budget, under Buhari

Mr Buhari gave this advice despite his government's failure to improve funds ng for the Nigerian agricultural sector in accordance with the Maputo Agreement over the past seven years.

Maputo Declaration

The Maputo Declaration is an agreement reached at the Second Ordinary Assembly of the African Union in July 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique, when African Heads of State and Government met to discuss food security and agricultural value chain development on the continent. .

Nigeria has signed...