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By Chinyere Anyanwu
Experts and stakeholders in the agriculture sector have described the N1.45 trillion 2026 budgetary allocation, covering both capital projects and recurrent expenditure, as mere drop in the ocean.
They said the figure should be far higher especially for a nation battling insecurity and chronic food shortage.
A breakdown of the agricultural sector allocation shows that N1.3 trillion was budgeted for capital projects, N136.3 billion for personnel costs and N11.3 billion for overheads. At ministry headquarters, N282 billion has been set aside, with infrastructure and development programmes billed to gulp N262.8 billion.
The Renewed Hope Fertiliser Support Programme would receive N89.1 billion to ensure farmers access fertilisers to boost crop production. The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones would be allocated N126 billion to drive industrialisation and job creation. The Value Chain Development Project will get N37.5 billion to enhance farmers profitability. The National Agricultural Land Development Authority will receive N25 billion for land clearing and establishment of modern farm facilities.
The Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu is billed to receive N44.2 billion for infrastructure and research while the National Agricultural Development Fund is allocated the sum of N94.6 billion to provide critical support to farmers and agribusiness ventures.
The sector, which is still struggling to emerge from the state of emergency pronounced on it by President Bola Tinubu, one would suppose, should have received a better allocation.
Stakeholders who have shared their take on the budgetary allocation to agriculture are varied in their opinions with the majority describing it as not giving anyone anything to celebrate.
The president, in his budget presentation speech, equally promised to provide affordable financing to millions of smallholder farmers across the country, a promise stakeholders say requires strong political will on the part of government to bring to fulfilment.
Reacting to the agricultural sector budget allocation issue, the Chief Operating Officer of Capacious Farms and Foods, Chi Tola Roberts, said the Budget, though welcomed in many quarters as a bold statement of intent still leaves much to be desired.
Roberts thinks, “in a country grappling with rising food prices, hunger, and supply shocks, the question is not whether agriculture deserves more funding, but whether this amount can truly deliver food security for over 200 million Nigerians.
“On the surface, N1.45 trillion appears substantial. In reality, it barely scratches the surface of the sector’s needs. Nigeria’s agricultural ecosystem is weighed down by long-standing structural challenges: insecurity in key food-producing regions, poor rural roads and storage facilities, high input costs, weak extension services, climate variability, and massive post-harvest losses.
When the budget is spread across these demands, across 36 states and the FCT, its transformative power becomes limited.”
Furthermore, she noted that, “budgetary allocation alone does not guarantee impact. What matters more is how the funds are deployed. How much will go into capital projects rather than recurrent expenditure? Will releases be timely? Will smallholder farmers, who produce more than 70 percent of the country’s food, feel the impact directly? Without efficient execution, transparency, and coordination between federal, state, and private-sector actors, even a much larger budget could fail to deliver meaningful change.”
The Capacious Farms and Foods COO described as commendable the Federal Government’s pledge to provide affordable financing to smallholder farmers, but noted that it is a promise that must be clearly defined.
According to her, “ ‘affordable financing’ in Nigeria cannot be measured by commercial banking standards. Agriculture is not a quick-turnover business. It is seasonal, climate-sensitive, and exposed to market volatility.
“For smallholder farmers, affordable financing means single-digit interest rates, ideally between 5 and 9 per cent per annum. It means repayment structures aligned with harvest cycles, not rigid monthly schedules. It means access without impossible collateral requirements, using cooperatives, value-chain guarantees, insurance, and produce-backed models.
“At prevailing commercial lending rates of 25 to 35 per cent, farmers are not borrowing to grow; they are borrowing to sink. Such rates make agricultural expansion impossible and deepen rural poverty. If the government truly intends to reach millions of farmers, financing must be deliberately de-risked and delivered through cooperatives, aggregators, and trusted value-chain partners, while being tied to inputs, extension services, and guaranteed markets.
“Ultimately, food security will not be achieved by budget figures alone. It will come from a system where public funds catalyse private investment, where farmers can access affordable credit, produce efficiently, repay confidently, and reinvest sustainably. N1.45 trillion is a start, but without disciplined execution and genuinely affordable financing, Nigeria’s food security ambitions will remain just that: ambitions.”
For Okey Nwamadi, Managing Director/CEO of Goldridge Bioagro Ltd, “the budget allocation alone does not change anything in the agricultural sector. Implementation is central to determining impact and attaining food security. Oftentimes, the monies budgeted do not get to the real people who need them to boost productivity.”
He is certain that “providing affordable financing for smallholder farmers is a good thing,” but adds that, “though government always announce single digit interest rate for farmers but unfortunately, an insignificant number of farmers access the money. There are all kinds of administrative bottlenecks related to accessing these funds. Even the banks do not make it any easier for the beneficiaries. It’ll be helpful if the government makes the process of accessing the money more seamless for farmers.”
The Secretary General, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Otunba Femi Oke, on his part, is of the opinion that “the amount allocated to agriculture in the 2026 budget is still sustainable. It’s better than we’ve had in some years back. I believe with this, there should be some level of development in the agriculture sector and this will really have positive impact on smallholder farmers. If we should look at the percentage of the budget, it’s above 5 per cent, which has never happened before in the history of the country.”
In all the analyses and opinions shared by stakeholders on the expected impact of the 2026 budgetary allocation to agriculture and possible shortcomings, the real test of the 2026 agriculture budget, according to the COO of Capacious Farms and Foods, is not how much is allocated, but how much food ends up on the tables of Nigerians.
