Resource information
The Agriculture Sector Development Programme (ASDP) is a Sector Programme largely implemented at the district level through the District Agricultural Development Plans (DADPs) as an integral part of the District Development Plan (DDP). The government also works at the national level through the Agriculture Sector Lead Ministries (ASLMs) to deal with issues such as fertiliser subsidies, large irrigation schemes, research and development, regulation and coordination as well as quality assurance. Grants from central government are released on quarterly bases depending on established grant allocation formulae.
Under the Basket Fund (BF) system, 75% of ASDP allocations are expected to be transferred to local level, whereas the remaining 25% is retained at national level to cover overhead costs and other interventions implemented at national level. Of the 75% of the funds received at the LGAs, at least 80- 85% is expected to support community projects through the District Agriculture Development Grant (DADG), the Agricultural Capacity Building Grant (ACBG) and the Agricultural Extension Block Grant (AEBG). Traditionally, interventions through the development grants – which should be used only for investment – receive over 65% of the total, while the remaining 35% is shared between capacitybuilding grants and extensions grants.
In order to give fact-based advice to the government, ANSAF analysed budgets for selected LGAs1 and at national level with the aim of: indicating direct and indirect costs from DADP for selected LGAs; identifying LGA priority spending; establishing trends for budget allocations to investments and facilitation costs; examining the extent to which LGAs use their own sources of funds for in agriculture ; and examining whether allocation at national level is based on the potential for agricultural production and the poverty level of regions.
