Smallholder farmers in Gwagwalada have called for their climate priorities, farmland security and improved mechanisation to be included in the council’s 2026 budget, as climate change continues to threaten yields and rural livelihoods.
The farmers appealed the unveiling of the Climate Participatory Budget Proposal at the Gwagwalada Area Council secretariat.
They argued that access to improved seedlings and climate-smart inputs had become essential for surviving the increasing irregular rainfall, floods, drought and rising temperatures affecting their farms.
The event was convened by the Development of Educational Action Network (DEAN) Initiative under its Strengthening Climate Adaptation through Participatory Budgeting project, funded by People-Powered, a global organisation promoting inclusive democracy.
Gwagwalada remains the first local government council in Nigeria to adopt a participatory budgeting model, enabling citizens, particularly farmers, to directly influence spending decisions.
Ayuba Zubairu, one of the smallholder farmers, said communities urgently needed improved varieties of maize, guinea corn and yams that could withstand shorter growing periods and new pest pressures.
“Some of the maize we used to plant takes a long time to mature, but the climate is changing too fast. The crops no longer survive. Termites, maggots and other pests finish them before harvest,” he said.
Zubairu also urged the government to restore and expand farmlands for local farmers, noting that some of their plots had been reclaimed for other uses.
Mrs Rakiya Mamman, a woman leader from Paiko Community, stressed that farmers had not received fertiliser support this year and required urgent access to pesticides and other inputs to secure a decent harvest.
Muhammad Saba, the Gwagwalada Council Secretary and Focal Person on the Open Government Partnership (OGP), stated that citizens’ participation in budgeting had become vital for transparency and successful implementation.
He noted that the draft climate proposal would be reviewed by the council’s management team and assured farmers that their priorities would be considered in the 2026 budget cycle.
“As the first council in Nigeria to adopt citizen participation in budgeting, we are committed to exploring all the benefits of the OGP concept,” Saba said.
Semiye Michael, Executive Director of the DEAN Initiative, commended Gwagwalada for pioneering open, climate-responsive budgeting.
He expressed that climate impacts on farmers had ripple effects on the entire community and required a united response.
“I congratulate Gwagwalada as the first local government in Nigeria to democratise the budgetary process through actual voting and to allow citizens to participate in fighting climate change through budgeting,” he said.
Earlier, Taiye Ojo, Project Lead for DEAN’s Climate Democracy Accelerator Programme, noted that farmers had received training before the budgeting exercise to help them identify climate priorities and adopt climate-smart agricultural practices.
Source: NAN
