Capital Allocation to the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) in the 2019 FGN Appropriation Bill: Issues for Legislative and Executive Consideration

Abstract

One of the ways the Federal Government seeks to achieve a growth target of 3% in 2019 from 2.38% as at 2018Q4, is through adequate funding of agricultural research. The Agricultural Research Council of Nigerian (ARCN) plays a central role in Nigeria’s agricultural research. Poor utilization of its capital project would therefore, have consequences for knowledge creation that is required to drive resilient innovation in the agricultural sector. This brief examines the capital allocation to the ARCN in the 2019 FGN Appropriation Bill and compares them to the allocation in the 2018 and 2017 Appropriation Acts. It also examines their performance in terms of capital budget implementation and points out issues for legislative and Executive actions.