Poor Budgetary Allocation Bane Of Agric Development In Africa – IITA DG
Director-General of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sanginga, has decried lack of enough budgetary allocation to agricultural sector by
most African countries, saying that this has been militating against
the development of the sector in the continent.
Ibadan, said that except adequate attention was paid to agriculture by
African leaders, it might be difficult to attain food sufficiency in
the continent.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sanginga, an indigene of
Democratic Republic of Congo, assumed office in 2011 as the first
African director-general of the 54-year-old international institute.
He noted that African countries had more than enough resources to
attain food sufficiency and rely less on importation, adding, however,
that the endemic leadership problems confronting them had been a clog
in their wheel of progress.
This, Sanginga said, had been further compounded by lack of commitment
of most African leaders to agricultural development, as reflected in
the quantum of resources being allocated to the sector on yearly
basis.
Citing the example of his home country, he said that on the average,
DRC usually had 1.7 per cent budgetary allocation to agriculture,
while in Nigeria, it was not more than two per cent.
“With all the resources available to DRC, the country still imports
more than 70 per cent of food items, such as rice, beans and fish. Its
annual budgetary allocation to agriculture is about 1.7 per cent,
while in Nigeria, it is not more than two per cent.
“The situation is also the same in most other African countries. With
these, how can we say that African leaders are serious about attaining
food security in the continent?” he queried.
The director-general reeled out his achievements in the last 10 years
that he had been in the saddle, especially in the areas of creation of
business incubation platforms, setting up the youth agripreneurs
programme, the implementation of ‘Start Them Early Project’ (STEP) and
building of food processing units under the IITA leadership.
“One of my most important legacies has been the creation of IITA Youth
Agripreneurs (IYA) programme which was aimed at addressing the high
rate of unemployment among African youths, with agriculture sitting as
a goldmine, waiting for explorers.
“More than 60 per cent of Africa’s estimated 1.2 billion people are
under the age of 25 and yet, with little job creation. Whereas
agriculture remains an essential driver of economic development and an
area of great opportunities for young people in the continent,” he
said.
Sanginga added that the IYA initiative had now been adopted by many
organisations, especially African Development Bank (AfDB) which had
scaled in to 24 countries.
This, he said, had rekindled the hope of a new generation of African
agricultural entrepreneurs who would feed the continent and create
wealth and employment.
The director-general pointed out that these achievements, among
others, had motivated the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, into
singling him out for recognition and honour of the chieftaincy title
of Aare Afurugbin Ola of the Source.
NAN reports that the conferment of the chieftaincy title, whose
translation is Lead Sower of Wealth and Prosperity of the House
Oduduwa, will take place at Ile Oodua, Ooni’s palace, Ile-Ife, on Dec.
11.
While expressing appreciation to the royal father for the honour,
Sanginga said that this would further fire his passion for the
development of agriculture and agribusiness in the African continent.
