By Chinyere Anyanwu [email protected]
To assist the current administration to produce reliable data to capture farmers engaged in various forms of agricultural activities across the country for better planning and proper allocation of agricultural resources to users, the Federal Government and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have formed an alliance.
To facilitate the initiative, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Temitope Fashedemi, at the weekend, inaugurated a high-powered Technical Working Group (TWG) to create a reliable farmers data by identifying and capturing rural people engaged in various farming activities to achieve seamless database.
Speaking during the inauguration ceremony held in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary stated that the inauguration of the committee was critical to shaping the future of Nigeria’s farmers through proper listing and identification to assist the ministry in delivering agricultural inputs and support to the right farmers.
The Permanent Secretary stated that recently, the minister inaugurated the National Executive Committee on the Implementation of Nigeria Farmers’ Soil Health Card Scheme to enhance agricultural productivity and ensure a food-secured future for the country in line with the present administration’s mandate in the agriculture sector.
He stated further that the TWG, under the leadership of the Director, Department of Planning and Policy Coordination, with the participation of the directors of technical departments and the NIMC representatives, would play a critical role in achieving the vision.
Fashedemi tasked the committee to develop effective modalities for collaboration between the Ministry and NIMC towards ensuring seamless data capture and management.
In his remarks, the Director, Card Management Services Department, NIMC, Dr. Peter Iwegbu stated that NIMC has the mandate to establish, own, operate, maintain and manage the national identity database in Nigeria, and to register persons covered by the Act, assign a unique National Identification Number (NIN) and issue general multi-purpose cards (GMPC) to those who are citizens of Nigeria as well as others legally residing within the country.
He revealed that, “the programme would enable government manage the intervention across the country, validate soil, target support (specify target that you want to support i.e farmers), predictability, identify and channel whom you intend to support, among others.”
The committee’s Terms of Reference (TOR) include to develop a comprehensive work plan with clear timelines, roles and responsibilities for each phase of the data capture initiative; design robust data collection tools and methodologies to capture essential farmer information, including personal identification, farm size, crop types, etc; identify training programmes for field officers and data collectors to ensure data accuracy and consistency; establish clear terms and conditions for the collaboration between the ministry and NIMC; fostering a strong partnership and any other relevant work/directives that will facilitate the work of the committee. Membership of the TWG comprises staff of some agencies and officials from the technical departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and NIMC.