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CSJ Briefs Media on Provisions for Small Scale Women Farmers in the 2021 Federal Budget Estimates

On the 10th of November 2020, the Centre For Social Justice (CSJ) and Small-Scale Women Farmer Association of Nigeria (SWOFON) organized a media briefing. The briefing was held to present a gender-focused review of the Federal Agriculture Budget Estimates for 2021. The review is part of SWOFON’s advocacy bid to improve the welfare of small-scale women farmers in Nigeria. According to the National Gender Policy on Agriculture, women carry out about 80% of agricultural production in Nigeria. It is at this backdrop that SWOFON and CSJ are advocating for improved public support to small scale women farmers.

Mr. Fidelis Onyejegbu, Programme Officer, Public Finance Management (PFM) at CSJ while presenting the review document at CSJ’s conference room, noted that over N6trillion has been spent on food importation from 2016-2019, a figure he described as unnecessary given the high rate of unemployment in the country. He also noted that the agriculture budget for 2021 is only about 1.37% of the total budget which is far below the Maputo/Malabo Declaration Standard.

He then went further to present the 33-page document which features an introduction to the topic in part one.  A breakdown of votes allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and how it mainstreams gender into its budget is the main focus of the second part. The third part of the review takes a look at agriculture votes outside the Ministry of Agriculture and how much gender mainstreaming has been achieved. Part four of the document analysed frivolities, inappropriate, unclear and wasteful expenditure proposals in the agriculture budget estimates for 2021, which if eliminated could save the Nation over N7Billion.  Finally, CSJ and SWOFON made recommendations on how the agricultural sector can be improved especially as it concerns small scale women farmers in Nigeria.

During the event, Mrs. Mary Afan President SWOFON, presented a Charter of Demands which represents the needs of small-scale women farmers across the six geo-political zones of the country.  She then took the opportunity to call on the government to take the charter into cognizance in budget and policy implementation. To the National Assembly, she made a call for the reworking of the 2021 budget to guarantee that it takes the peculiar interest of women farmers into consideration. A summary of the Charter of Demands can be found on page 4 of the document which is available on CSJ’s website.