ActionAid Urges Nigerian States to Boost IGR with Agriculture Investments

News in Brief:

-A new ActionAid report shows Nigerian states could generate ₦5.4 trillion from agriculture if each invests ₦15 billion in key value chains.

-The study emphasises that increased, well-targeted spending in agriculture will raise IGR, boost food security, and create massive employment.

A new analysis by ActionAid Nigeria has revealed that Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) could collectively generate over ₦5.4 trillion from agriculture if each state invests at least ₦15 billion in strategic areas of the sector.

The report, presented in Kaduna by Azubike Nwokoye, Food Systems Specialist at ActionAid Nigeria, during the National Council on Agriculture and Food Security, underscores agriculture as a high-return path to boosting internally generated revenue (IGR), employment, and food security. It also argues that these investments could trigger a ripple effect across the country's agricultural value chains.

For example, the study found that Gombe State, with a projected 2025 IGR of ₦25.66 billion, could earn an additional ₦112.98 billion from well-targeted agricultural investments, over four times its baseline projection. Similarly, Osun State, which projects an IGR of ₦119.87 billion, could raise an extra ₦114.08 billion through strategic funding in agriculture.

Agriculture Spending Still Too Low

Despite agriculture’s vast potential, Nwokoye lamented that most states allocate minimal funds to the sector, especially to capital expenditure components that drive real productivity.

He emphasised that states must increase and efficiently utilise agricultural budgets, particularly in areas such as:

• Access to credit and extension services
• Support for women and youth in agribusiness
• Post-harvest loss reduction
• Market access and processing infrastructure

Priority Areas for High Impact

The ActionAid findings recommend investment in processing and storage facilities, rural roads, irrigation systems, and climate-smart agriculture. It also calls for increased spending on research, monitoring and evaluation, and nutrition-sensitive farming.

Nwokoye reminded policymakers of the Kampala Declaration, which urges governments to allocate, and more importantly, spend at least 10% of their annual budgets on agriculture.

The report concluded that sustained and well-coordinated agricultural investments would not only enhance food security but also create thousands of jobs and reduce poverty nationwide.

“If we want to eradicate poverty and grow state revenues, then agriculture is the smartest investment any state can make,” Nwokoye said.