Agric Ministry partners NIMC to produce reliable farmer’s data.

From Cyril Mbah, Abuja.

The Federal Government has taken a bold step that would help the administration to produce reliable data of people engaged ín various forms of farming activities across the nation for better planning and proper allocation of agricultural resources to needy users.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr.Temitope Fashedemi at the weekend inaugurated a high-powered Technical Working Group (TWG) to work on the initiative and create a reliable farmers data by identifying and capturing rural people engaged ín various farming activities to achieve seamless database.

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, held at the Ministry’s Conference room in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary stated that the inauguration of the Committee was a vital initiative that would shape the future of Nigeria’s farmers through proper listening and identification to assist the Ministry in delivering agricultural inputs and support to the right farmers.

He revealed that the ministry would collaborate with the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), to achieve the desired result of creating a robust database.

The Permanent Secretary recalled 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.

Speaking further, he stated 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.

Mr 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 the 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 amongst 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 programs 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 include staff of some agencies and officials drawn from the technical departments of the agricultural Ministry and the NIMC.