From Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse
A non-governmental organisation, Propcom+, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), has engaged agricultural stakeholders in the formation of an accountability platform aimed at strengthening agriculture in northern Nigeria.
Stakeholders from Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Gombe, Adamawa and Katsina met in Kano where they discussed ways to address barriers to sustainable agricultural development, increase productivity, build resilience to climate change, reduce emissions and improve access to nutritious food.
Comrade Hamza Yunusa, Propcom+ Policy Facilitator for Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa states, explained that the interactive session held at Bon Hotel in Kano centred on agricultural budgeting, including planning, allocation, release and implementation.
He described Propcom+ as an International Climate Finance (ICF) programme designed to support the transformation of Nigeria’s rural economy by tackling environmental, social and economic challenges in the country’s food and land-use systems.
According to him, the programme aims to enhance the income and climate resilience of 3.79 million Nigerians by 2030 by removing key barriers to sustainable agriculture, improving productivity, building resilience, cutting emissions, improving access to nutritious diets and addressing some of the underlying drivers of conflict.
He said this would be achieved through scaling up proven climate-smart business models, promoting innovative and inclusive agricultural solutions, and facilitating policy and regulatory reforms to create a more enabling environment for the sector.
He explained that the initiative seeks to empower farmers’ groups, civil society organisations, women’s associations, the media and persons with disabilities to engage constructively with government authorities on agricultural budget planning and implementation.
He stressed the need for stronger citizen engagement and civil society participation in the agricultural budgeting process to enhance transparency, improve service delivery and promote inclusive development across northern Nigeria.
The policy facilitator also noted that agricultural allocations remain grossly inadequate and urged stakeholders to use evidence-based advocacy to push for greater investment.
“We are looking forward to a situation where civil society actors can have a stronger voice in engaging the government constructively. Our aim is not to criticise for the sake of it, but to build on what the government is already doing and advocate for more support where necessary,” he added.