Politicians have Hijacked Farm Inputs from Ondo Farmers – Stakeholders allege

Stakeholders in the agricultural sector in Ondo state, have lamented the politicization of the sector which, they said, has hindered real farmers from accessing and benefiting from the distribution of Agric inputs by the Federal government towards promoting food security in the state.

The stakeholders, including the Small-Scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria (SWOFON) and  Justice Development and Peace Centre (JDPC) stated this in Akure during the presentation of the Community Score Cards on Small holder Women Farmers Access To Nigeria COVID-19 Response and Economic Stimulus (Ondo-cares Fadama) Programme/intervention for the Period of 2021-2023.

According to the data by the Justice Development and Peace Center, JDPC, in the 18 local government of Ondo state, Political influence on the planning and distribution of agric inputs does not allow the right farmers to benefit which hinders the promotion of food security.

The data gathered also shows that “ 0% of the respondents have accessed to support services, 6% have fairly accessible experience, 0% of them did not have access, while 94% of them do not know anything about the accessibility level of the agricultural support services meant to be rendered for the pro-poor farmers.

“According to the information gathered from the beneficiaries within our communities, it was gathered that the intervention was not timely.

“No substantial effort was taken by the implementing agency to build the knowledge and skills of theSmall Holder Women Farmers, SHWF, across various communities on the NG-CARES (ONDO-CARES FADAMA).

“ In the year 2021, it was obvious that the sum of N995,400,000 was budgeted to be spent specifically for food security and sustainable livelihood through FADAMA in the state but we could not obtain the performance base from the state budget. In the year 2022, it was observed that the performance base was 97.6% from 1 3d quarter of the year, while that of 2023 was at 70.4% performance base.

“Out of the overall respondents gathered in this particular table. It was shown that only 6% affirmed that the services rendered under the NG-CARE (FADAMA) was adequate, both fairly adequate and not adequate were rated as 0%, while ‘I don’t know’ was rated at 94%. The 94% of the participants who chose ‘I don’t know professed that this was as a result of their inaccessibility to the services carried-out under the NG- CARES intervention.

The stakeholders also highlighted other challenges to include, “Noninvolvement of SHWF at the design, planning and implementation stages of the NG-CARE (ONDO-CARES FADAMA) intervention in the state.

“Low publicity on the NG-CARES (ONDO-CARES FADAMA) to SHWF farmers who are majorly domiciled in the rural communities

“Inappropriate/lack of data capturing deprived SHWF from benefiting from the NG -CARES (ONDO-CARES FADAMA) and Inadequate awareness creation on the NG-CARES (ONDO-CARES FADAMA) intervention/programmes.”

They however called the state government to consider some recommendations towards ensuring food security which include that “There should be a strong and constant awareness creation on the NG-CARES (ONDO-CARES FADAMA) intervention/programmes through different channels that will ensure the right people especially SHWF who are majorly domiciled in the communities are properly enlightened.

“Extension Agents at various local government offices should be used as one of the major channels of disseminating timely and adequate information needed for SHWF to improve their knowledge and skills on the agric services meant for the NG-CARES (ONDO-CARES FADAMA) intervention.

“There should be inclusion of SHWF right from the designing stage to the implementation stage of the NG-CARE (ONDO-CARES FADAMA) intervention in Ondo state for the purpose of evenly distributions of inputs/services.

“There should training of SHWF on modern farming techniques that will improve their knowledge and skills towards climate resilience and adaption that will enhance food production, reduce hunger and improve livelihood in the state.”