Abuja — The Association of Small Scale Farmers under the auspices of Voices for Food Security (VFS) has rejected the 2010 budget proposal for the agriculture sector, describing it as abysmally low.

They noted that an allocation of N148.7 billion to the agricultural sector, which is a paltry 3.7 per cent of the total budget of N4 trillion, is far short of the target of 10 per cent recommended by the Maputo Declaration of 2003, to which Nigeria is a signatory.

Speaking on behalf of the association, Mr. Musa Jatau of United Movement of Small-Scale Farmers, Nasarawa state, told journalists in Abuja that the Federal Government is surprisingly retrogressing in its budgetary provision to the agric sector despite its importance of the to the nation's economy.

"Compared with the about 12 per cent of last year, the meagre allocation in this year's budget suggests that the Nigerian authorities no longer believe that food security is an issue;

"However, this flies against the stark reality that food situation in Nigeria is worsening. And it portends a failure of the authorities in Nigeria to provide leadership for Africa's recovery from the current global economic crises;

"We are also at pains to understand this retrogression in budgetary allocation considering the emergence agriculture-related challenges, such as avian influenza and swine flu;

"The budget in its present form can neither further the cause of the government's 7-Point Agenda, Vision 20:2020, nor accelerate progress of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)", Jatau said.

The farmers expressed concern over the manner in which previous budgetary allocations especially that of 2009, were allegedly being squandered without positive impact to supposedly beneficiaries, such as the small scale farmers, youths, women and general public.

Adding her voice to calls to redress the issue, Mrs. Amina Bala Jibrin of Kauna Gridan Gona, Bauchi called on the Federal Government to make provision for the women, small scale farmers and youths within the framework of the budget.

Speaking further, she alerted that the over concentration of resources in the budget in the hands of the Federal agencies, to the detriment of local governments.