Skip to main content

ECOWAS task lawmakers on increased budgetary allocation for Agriculture
source:IITA

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resource of the Economic Community of West Africa State (ECOWAS) has called on Parliamentarians across member states to increase budgetary allocations for agriculture.

Speaking at the 2nd ECOWAS people’s Agriculture Budget summit jointly organised by the ECOWAS Parliament and Action Aid, Dr Ernest Aubee, Head of ECOWAS Department of Agriculture and Water Resources urged Parliamentarians across the region to champion increased budgeting on Agriculture in their various countries.

Ernest said “In 2003, at the Second Ordinary Assembly of the African Union, African Heads of State and Government endorsed the “Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security and the 10 percent national budget allocation to agriculture development which contained prominently the commitment to the allocation of at least 10 percent of national budgetary resources to agriculture and rural development policy implementation within five years.”  

“After the signing of this declaration in 2003, and a review in 2011, some members state has been consistent in ensuring that the content on the declaration is appropriately implemented, while some are however not consistent,” Ernest said.

Highlighting the progress of the declaration, Ernest said, “Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone has been consistent in the execution of the declaration, while other member states are waving.

Continuing, he recommended that Parliamentarians should advocate to their Member states governments to increase public financing of agriculture and meet to the 10% Maputo Declaration.

“There is a need for adequate legislative oversight that would ensure that the ECOWAS Members States do not deviate from their commitment to the allocation of a minimum of 10 percent of government expenditure on agriculture.

“Parliamentarians should ensure that right investment are made to support smallholder farmers especially women and youths in agriculture, on agricultural finance/credit, farm inputs, extension services, climate-resilient Sustainable Agriculture, agroecology, labour-saving technologies and in research and development without administrative/bloated overheads,” Ernest recommended.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reject List From Countries In breach Of 30 Percent Women Representation – Njai Tells ECOWAS Parliament

A Gambian representative to the ECOWAS Parliament, Honorable Fatoumatta Njai has challenged the Community Parliament to reject list of countries that are short of thirty percent women’s representation to the Parliament. Speaking in an exclusive interview at the official Opening Ceremony of the Fifth Legislature’s delocalized meeting of the Joint Committee on Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment / Education, Science and Culture/Health, currently holding in Monrovia, Liberia on the theme, “ Empowerment of Women in the ECOWAS Region.” Njai said that some countries lack female representation in the Conference of Bureau, this according to her is disregarding the ECOWAS Rules of Procedure. “The Rules of Procedures mentioned that each member country should have a female representation at the Conference of Bureau. Each country has three members in the Conference of Bureau, so each country can at least have one female member which will be thirty percent representation. I thin...
Post a Comment
Read more
Benin Republic set to review Constitution on terms of Political Office. In a year when many countries on the continent and in West Africa are changing their constitutions to allow for incumbent presidents to run yet again, the Beninese National Assembly has approved a major constitutional reform to discuss the precision on the two terms of office of the President of the Republic among other issues. Detailing the political situation of Benin at the floor of the ECOWAS Parliament, the country report presented contained that the constitutions review was to address the current political situation of the country marking a new Republic following two unsuccessful attempts. The report stated that “Benin Republic has after the April 2019 Legislative elections experienced a tense atmosphere following the frustrating feelings from political group who were unable to participate in the legislative elections, due to the inability to meet the requirement on the law on the constit...
Post a Comment
Read more
Nigerian senator dies in UK A senator representing Cross River North, Rose Oko, is dead. The 63-year-old senator died on Monday night at a United Kingdom (UK) medical facility where she had been receiving treatment in the last one month. Oko was a member of the House of Representatives representing Yala/Ogoja Federal Constituency during the 7th National Assembly. Senator Oko was elected into office as the first female representative from her constituency in June 2011, and is currently in her second-term member of the upper chamber and served as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment. Her death comes about six weeks after Plateau senator, Ignatius Longjan, passed on and three months after Imo senator, Ben Uwajumogwu, died.
Post a Comment
Read more