Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government has budget over N5.30bn for the National Grazing Reserve Development, while N25.1 billion is for the promotion and development of Value Chain across more than thirty different commodities.
This was contained in 2018 Appropriation Bill assented to recently by President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja.
A little breakdown indicates that N4.2bn is to be expended on rural roads and water sanitation programme, N3.53bn is for agribusiness and market development, and N4.08bn is meant to take care of food and strategic reserve.
In addition, N2 billion will go for supply installation and commissioning of water rigs nationwide, while N1.13 billion and N2 billion are to cater for Federal Government’s support for youths in agribusiness and livelihood improvement family enterprise (LIFE) programme, respectively.
Veterinary, pest control services and extension services were not left out as 2.1 billion and N2.1 billion, respectfully, are to cater for their services.
For the recapitalization of the Bank of Industry (BOI) and Bank of Agriculture (BOA), N15 billion has been provided as provision to support the firms to aid Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (MSMEs).