29 April, 2025
Taiwo Ogunniyi
Agricultural stakeholders in Kwara State have raised alarm over the exclusion of post-harvest loss reduction strategies in the proposed 2025 agriculture budget, calling on the state government to urgently address the issue which is said to cost the state over N94.5 billion annually.
Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday in Ilorin, a coalition of agriculture-focused civil society organisations under the Kwara Budget Committee Group decried what they described as a glaring oversight in the state’s 2025 budget proposal.
Mrs Modupe Suleiman, Deputy Coordinator of the Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON), cited a report by ActionAid Nigeria which shows that Kwara contributes significantly to Nigeria’s estimated N3.5 trillion in post-harvest losses every year.
“It is deeply worrying that despite such a staggering loss of N94.5 billion annually, the 2025 agriculture budget has no provision to support the reduction of post-harvest losses,” Suleiman said.
“This is even more alarming considering President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency on food security.”
She noted that access to essential post-harvest infrastructure remains poor among smallholder women farmers in the state, with only 26 percent having access to processing facilities, 10 percent to transportation, 21 percent to market access, and just 39 percent receiving training on post-harvest handling.
The group also expressed concern over the significant drop in agriculture’s share of the total state budget — from 1.49 percent in 2024 to 0.97 percent in 2025 — which falls far below the 10 percent target set by the Maputo and Malabo declarations.
“The reduction of 0.52 percent is a step in the wrong direction. We urge the government to reverse this trend and prioritise the agriculture sector in line with regional commitments,” she added.
Beyond allocation, the coalition called for improved budget implementation. Suleiman revealed that only 37.3 percent of the 2024 agriculture budget — N5.8 billion out of N15.6 billion — was actually released and utilised.
“This low performance undermines critical support to smallholder farmers. We are demanding timely and adequate release of funds with full cash backing for agriculture budget lines in 2025,” she stated.
Mr Abdurrahman Ayuba, Coordinator of the Scaling Up Public Investment in Agriculture (SUPIA) initiative, stressed that the budget review was aimed at highlighting gaps in the proposed 2025 budget and advocating for more effective, farmer-focused policies.
“For six consecutive years, Kwara has failed to meet the 10 percent benchmark for agriculture funding. This shows a pattern of underinvestment in a sector that is vital for food security and rural development,” Ayuba said.
The budget review exercise is part of ActionAid Nigeria’s SUPIA project, involving 12 civil society organisations including CCEPE, FEMCOM, MCDO, WLEHF, CODE, JONAPWD, AGRO-GEO, OLIF, Gold Spring Initiative, WECTIN and Fulfilling Dreams Foundation.
The coalition recommended that all agriculture-related budget activities be domiciled under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to enhance transparency and accountability.
