Farmers and other stakeholders have expressed concern over high prices of food items in the market amid its availability, saying this does not speak well of the over N1.25trillion federal budget approved for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in three years to manage the sector.
Although they noted that the correlation between food prices and the federal budgets for agriculture was slim, they wondered why food prices had continued to rise despite being available.
Farmers under the aegis of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) also raised concerns about the devaluation of the naira, as they explained that this was also a significant factor that had made food unaffordable despite the over N1tn federal agriculture budgets in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
The concerns by farmers were further amplified by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry which declared on Saturday that the persistent hike in food prices was currently worsening poverty levels across the country.
In 2022, the agriculture ministry got the approval of N71.84bn as personnel cost, N3.7bn for overhead, and N386.65bn for capital projects, making a total allocation of N462.2bn.
The total budgetary allocation dropped to N426.99bn in 2023, as personnel cost was N80.94bn; overhead, N4.5bn; while capital project allocation was N341.6bn.
There was a further drop in the ministry’s 2024 budget, as its total allocation was N362.94bn, comprising personnel cost of N102.1bn, overhead was N8.1bn, while the capital project was put at N252.7bn.
President of AFAN, Kabir Ibrahim, in an interview with newsmen, said the budgets have had little impact on food prices, as the commodities have remained high despite the hundreds of billions of naira budgets to the agriculture ministry, whether in states or at the federal level.
On why the budgets seem not to have impacted food prices across the country, the AFAN President explained that though there is some level of food availability in Nigeria, the food items were unaffordable.
“You should look at food availability and not the cost of food. Yes, there is a relationship that when there is availability and demand, there could be affordable prices, but in Nigeria, I don’t think that relationship holds because the devaluation of the naira has caused so much turbulence.
“Many things are astronomically high based on our income and the value of our currency. The turbulence in our economy today is also due to the devaluation of the naira”, he stated.
On whether there is food availability in Nigeria currently, Ibrahim replied, “Honestly I had this argument with some people on Good Morning Nigeria show on NTA. Now, go to any food market and ask them for food.
“You will find out that there is always food but it is very costly. Have you searched for any food item and it is not available? Except probably the vegetables now, and this is because most of us don’t practice greenhouse farming, but the open production of vegetables and the rainy season are not supportive of that.
“So, you may find a scarcity of tomatoes, peppers and all that. But this is normal, we have always had it like this during similar periods when there was rain. Otherwise, you can’t say that you went to the market and there is no rice, beans, etc. They are there now but they are costly.
“Therefore, what we are experiencing is lack of affordability, not lack of availability. That is the difference. We have been talking about attaining food security and this means that food has to be available and affordable. Once it is not affordable for you and me, then it is as good as not there”.
Ibrahim, however, noted that the reduction in budgetary allocations between 2022 and 2024 had no significant correlation with the high cost of food items in the market.
“I don’t think there is any nexus between the drop in the national budget and the cost of food, because if you ask yourself, what is the performance of the budget so far? How much of the budget has been released to the agriculture ministry?
“So, the Federal Government is meant to create an enabling environment for the country, though farming activities take place in the states and Local Governments. When you look at the budget details, is there anywhere in it where farmers are given money to go and produce food?
“The government itself doesn’t have a farm. Also, when you look at this year’s budget, we are now in June and I don’t think that we have had up to 15 per cent of budget performance”, Ibrahim stated.