Africa-Press – South-Sudan. South Sudan will be leveraging on agricultural production to spur the economy and achieve a food-secure population in the next financial year after increasing the budgetary allocation for the sector.
Addressing the National Assembly yesterday where he was summoned to explain the steps to alleviate the looming hunger, the Minister of Finance and Planning, Eng. Awow Daniel confirmed that the 2024-25 budget will contain an adjustment of the allocation for the agricultural sector.
“The budget was already tabled in the economic cluster last week, and this week it is going to the Council of Ministers, and it will also come to the Parliament after that. So, with some adjustments in the sort of structural change in the budget. Because, you know, agriculture didn’t have any budget that was enough. But this year, we have raised it to 10 per cent,” he said.
The call for extra resources for agriculture has been intensified by the Minister of Agriculture Josephine Lagu, who appeared in the House mid May 2024 and stressed the need for more funds to empower the players in the sector.
“We have responded to the president’s statement, but we urge the government to fulfill the 10 per cent budget allocation required from all African governments,” she told the lawmakers during the deliberation of the speech of President Salva Kiir.
The head of state appealed to the citizens to be proactive in producing more food and directed Lagu to offer support through various schemes.
According to Lagu, a budgetary adjustment through extra revenue allocation would allow her ministry to support the sector through “crop production, livestock, fisheries, environment and forestry, and irrigation and water resources.”
“We need 10 per cent of the budget invested in this sector to bridge the food gap, address flood threats, and tackle climate change, all of which impact agricultural production,” Lagu explained.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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