Agricultural sector has benefited N1.42trn since inception of Tinubu’s administration, says Bagudu

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, on Tuesday revealed that Agricultural sector has benefited N1.42trn from budgetary allocation since inception of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Specifically, he pointed out that the sector benefited from increased budgetary allocations since the inception of Tinubu’s administration, rising from N228.4 billion (1.05per cent of the 2023 budget) to N362.94 billion (1.32per cent of the 2024 budget) and finally to N826.5 billion (1.7per cent of the 2025 budget).

He disclosed this  at the University of Ibadan Agricultural Economics Distinguished Personality Lecture, delivered by the Country Director, World Bank Nigeria Country Office, Dr Ndiame Diop in Ibadan.

He commended President Bola Tinubu’s agricultural policies, noting that the sector has made significant progress under his leadership.

 Bagudu explained that agriculture’s 1.76 per cent growth in Q4 2024, accounting for a 25.59 per cent contribution to the 3.84 per cent GDP, indicated that Tinubu’s policies and programmes were maturing.

“Agriculture’s 1.76per cent growth and 25.59 per cent contribution remain vital, he told the audience, including academics, private sector leaders, and government officials, adding, “Q4 2024 GDP results confirm we are on the right path.”

The minister attributed the sector’s appreciable success to the administration’s unwavering policies, which he said prioritised augmented budgetary funding and access to finance, stimulated technological innovation and mechanisation, improved climate resilience, developed infrastructure, fostered public-private partnerships, and reinforced security.

Bagudu said the N100 billion National Agricultural Development Fund, which Tinubu established in 2023 to address financing challenges in agriculture, and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s donation of 2.15 million bags of fertiliser worth N100 billion to support farmers also enhanced the sector.

He told his audience: “Let me emphasise that the agricultural milestones of the last 23 months of the Tinubu administration are far from where we want to be. However, they indicate our commitment to transforming the sector. The recent establishment of a separate ministry for livestock development signifies the administration’s forward-looking approach to expanding the sector’s frontiers and serves as a game changer for the economy.”

The minister said that the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, as the statutory mechanism for coordinating national consensus, will continue encouraging institutional and multi-stakeholder synergy. He explained that the ministry would ensure that state technical committees drive subnational-level policy coordination and monitoring, promote public-private partnerships, and mobilise resources through collaborations with agribusinesses, FAO, WFP, and others.

Bagudu called for collective action among the government, academia, private sector, and development partners to turn challenges into opportunities. He added that through the aggressive implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda and the National Development Plan, Nigeria would be transformed into an agricultural powerhouse that feeds its people, powers its economy, and competes globally.

The distinguished lecturer Diop, in his lecture titled “Leveraging Agricultural Transformation for Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria: Key Considerations,” stated that for the country to enhance its agricultural productivity, enablers such as education and human capital, connectivity and security, access to reliable power, access to finance, and cross-border trading must be established. According to him, while economic transformation cannot happen overnight, it can only occur with committed leaders and macroeconomic stability.

He disclosed that Nigeria faces a significant demographic shift, with approximately 5.5 million Nigerians entering the labour force yearly. This rapid increase presents a unique opportunity for the country to become an essential economic driver of economic growth in Africa and globally.

He added that Nigeria’s economy needs to grow faster and transform. The transformation, he said, must accelerate the movement of workers from low-productivity, low-paying, and often informal jobs to more productive and higher-paying positions.