Governments urged to ensure agricultural support reaches smallholder farmers

Stakeholders in the agricultural sector in Kebbi state have called on the government to do much more to resist elite capture of state agricultural support and ensure that interventions reach small holder farmers.

This was part of a communique issued at the end of a one-day workshop on Agriculture Budget priorities for Kebbi state, organised by Oxfam in Sokoto.

“The first part of how to do this is to know the farmers, which is why empowering extension service agents is so important. The Department of Extension should help develop and maintain a database of farmers association and their members. This should be updated annually, complete with biometric information of each member including phone numbers, GPS location of their farm, and a photograph,” they stated.

They stressed the need for the state Ministry of Agriculture to ensure timely distribution of input support to farmers in the dry and wet seasons to ensure that farmers can actually use them at the right time to improve their yield.

The workshop participants also noted that farmers need capacity building on the loans being given to them to ensure appropriate use.

“In handling of stipulated loans, the farmers loan scheme under the ministry of agriculture and its partners should not disburse funds to farmers all at once, rather, it should be provided in stages.

inputs will be disbursed first by the service provider in charge of the community, then cash for cultivation and cash for harvest and other post-harvest activities through the treasure and chair of the farmers’ association,” they suggested.