Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Tuesday, called on the Nasarawa State Government to improve budgetary allocation to agriculture in order to attain food security.
They made the call at a sensitisation workshop on inclusive budgeting process using community development approach in Lafia.
Speaking at the occasion, Mr Obadiah Anji, President, Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) Mada Hills, said investment in agriculture would guarantee the desired goals in food security.
Anji explained that the workshop focuses on exposing participants to what budget inclusiveness entailed and how they could own the process entirely to ensure effective implementation.
“It is also creating awareness for them to know that governance is all about the people and their input for the grassroots matters so much and is key for a successful administration.
“Participants would be further trained on budget tracking and budget processes and government will be given feedback on the feelings of the people on how budget on agriculture is implemented,” Anji said.
On his part, Mr Jonathan Joshua, President of Association of Small Scale Agro Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN), noted that the current budgeting process in the state was not inclusive.
“The views of community stakeholders who are predominantly farmers are not been heard, so we want an open government where accountability, transparency, and participation would be entrenched in the budgeting process for agriculture.
“We would like to see this in Nasarawa state and also at the local government level,” he said.
Joshua said the community stakeholders through the awareness creation would be able to aggregate and identify their areas for government intervention in their various communities.
He said that transparency in the budgeting process would be an opportunity for the state to attract more private sector partnership and development grants.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop had in attendance 100 participants, mostly farmers from Akurba, keffin-wambai and Adogi wards in Lafia Local Governent Area of the state. (NAN)
