Lead Director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Eze Onyekpere, has said that the Federal Government’s objectives in achieving food security and sustainable agriculture have largely gone unrealised due to a public procurement policy that fails to consider the needs of key stakeholders, particularly small-scale women farmers.
 
He said that the challenge of procurement, as regards the agric sector, is “very huge” and directly explains the government’s failure to meet its agricultural goals, especially concerning food security, livelihoods, and the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation.
 
He spoke at a two-day workshop on inclusivity in agriculture procurement, organised by the CSJ, in partnership with the Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON), with funding from the International Budget Partnership in Abuja.
 
Onyekpere highlighted how an exclusionary procurement process is hindering the sector’s performance, pointing out a significant disconnect between the sector’s demographics and its investment strategy. 
 
He said that over 75 per cent of the persons involved in crop cultivation, which is a main contributor to agricultural GDP, are women.

Onyekpere, who stated that the agricultural sector “is not delivering up to the optimum,” attributed lack of performance, in part, to a procurement policy that he described as “not responding to or delivering on government objectives.”
 
In his keynote address, Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Dr Adebowale Adedokun, said that agriculture remains the backbone of Nigeria’s economy. 
 
He, however, acknowledged that barriers persist, which are “hindering full participation in procurement opportunities.”
 
Adedokun defined inclusion as opening decision-making, funding, and participation pathways to all stakeholders, especially women, youths, and marginalised groups.
 
He stressed that addressing these barriers is not just ethical but “essential to national development, food security, and poverty reduction.”
 
Adedokun, therefore, urged participants to “advocate practical reforms, invest in capacity-building, and champion the voices of small-holder women and youths in procurement processes” to build an agricultural system that is both productive and equitable.