News in brief: The Nigeria Young Farmers Network is urging the Tinubu to allocate a significant portion of fuel subsidy savings to the agriculture sector through the National Agricultural Development Fund to enhance productivity, technological advancements, and improve farmers’ livelihoods.
Nigeria Young Farmers Network (NYFN) has urged the Tinubu-led administration to channel a large portion of fuel subsidy savings to funding the agriculture sector through the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF).
In a press statement, the organisation’s national president, Dr. Abubakar Musa, argued that the funding will enhance agricultural productivity, promote technological advancements and improve farmers’ livelihoods.
He added that initiatives like research and development, given their importance to the country’s agricultural sector, deserve the funds.
“The funds redirected from subsidies should be allocated to various key initiatives within the agricultural sector. These initiatives may include, research and development: investing in research programmes to enhance crop varieties, improve farming techniques and develop innovative solutions that address agricultural challenges,” Musa said.
He further clarified that requesting a large sum of the fuel subsidy savings to agriculture does not mean abandoning other concerns. Instead, he believes that funding the sector will eventually benefit the entire nation.
“We believe that this decision will contribute significantly to the realisation of our agricultural potential, food security, rural development, and economic diversification,” he said.
How much is Nigeria’s savings on fuel subsidy?
According to a statement by Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), the country was paying about â¦400 billion per month for fuel subsidy by 2022. Another report says that Nigeria spent almost $10 billion on fuel subsidy for the entire 2022.
The amount that the government will save on fuel subsidy is between between â¦3 trillion and over â¦4.3 trillion in 2023. Injecting a large portion of this into financing the country’s agricultural sector will no doubt go a long way. President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope for Agriculture plan could also use enormous funding to take off.
For now, the government has not revealed its plan for the fuel subsidy savings.
