A coalition of 31 organisations in the agrifood systems has raised concern over poor capital budget performance in the agricultural sector across the states, as a recent study revealed that 22 states spent less than 50 per cent of their agricultural capital allocations in 2023.

Working under the aegis of Community of Agrifood Systems Non-State Actors (COANSA), the organisations said the situation persisted in 18 states in 2024 and 15 states in 2025 despite upward capital budget allocations for agriculture between 2023 and 2026.

Against this background, COANSA warned that the poor implementation of agricultural budgets could undermine efforts to boost food production

It noted that increased public investment and effective expenditure in agriculture could raise internally generated revenue by between 6.22 per cent and 618 per cent, depending on the state, but warned that Nigeria risked losing these opportunities in 2026 if urgent action was not taken.

In a statement to commemorate World Food Day 2026, themed “Innovate Today, Nourish Tomorrow,” COANSA called on all tiers of government to strengthen investment in the agrifood sector, improve budget implementation and ensure accountability in public spending.

It explained that while innovation is critical to sustainable food production, improved nutrition, resilient livelihoods and inclusive economic growth, these outcomes cannot be achieved without adequate public investment, infrastructure, appropriate technologies and effective extension services.

COANSA further identified agro-ecological practices, agricultural research, irrigation development, labour-saving technologies, digital agricultural services and post-harvest loss reduction as innovations capable of addressing persistent challenges in food production, productivity and market access.

However, the organisations stressed that scaling up these solutions requires sustained financing, stronger institutions and fully funded policies that address the needs of farmers and other actors across the agrifood value chain.

They called for increased investment in smallholder women, youth-farmers and persons with disabilities to ensure equitable access to productive resources, finance, markets, knowledge and technology.

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to address the challenges, COANSA urged the federal government to establish a credible financing framework to achieve the minimum 10 per cent public expenditure commitment to agrifood systems under the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Kampala Declaration for 2026–2035.

Among others, it advocated an annual dialogue between governments and the CAADP non-state actors’ group in Nigeria to strengthen collaboration and accountability, while ensuring that non-state actors participated meaningfully in joint sector reviews and CAADP biennial review processes.