‘Why most agric projects fail in Nigeria’

ASenior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC, Dr. Tewodaj Mogues, has revealed that most agricultural programmes and projects in Nigeria die before their expiration dates due to the diverse interests and capabilities of the actors and institutions responsible for implementation of the projects.

Dr. Mogues, leading another Nigerian researcher, Ms. Tolulope Olofinbiyi, a PhD candidate at Tufts University Boston, Massachusetts, made the submission while delivering the monthly lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan entitled “Actors and institutions in agricultural public expenditure allocation and national food security: Evidence from subnational jurisdictions in Nigeria”.

According to the presenter, many African countries have a large agricultural footprint but do not enjoy the full benefits due to undue influences from the stakeholders, particularly politicians and chief executives of most projects in the agric sector.

The researchers maintained that the situation is the same in all the states across the federation citing the example of Cross River, Niger and Ondo whose budgetary allocations and implementation are largely depend on the so called key actors and institutions.

To checkmate the negative trend, the researchers urged the governments at all levels in Nigeria to find ways of reducing the influences of the so-called actors including politicians to the barest minimum even though the budgetary allocations in Nigeria, Federal, States and Local Governments are low compared to what is obtainable in other developing countries in Africa.

They also tasked the Federal Government to ensure thorough coordination of agricultural policies from the top downwards, stressing that for agricultural projects to succeed in Nigeria, all efforts must be put in place to reduce the undue influences from the uninvited influencers.