Ministry Restates Commitment to Address Challenges Besetting Agriculture Sector
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has said it will address all conceivable challenges besetting the agriculture sector with a focus on strengthening and developing value chains.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agricultural Rural Development, Dr. Ernest Umakhihe, stated this during a technical session as part of activities for the 45th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development (NCARD) holding at Langfield Leisure Park, Rayfield Jos, Plateau State.
Umakhihe said stakeholders in the agriculture sector have converged to brainstorm on ways to strengthen the agricultural value chains to ensure food security and economic development in Nigeria.
The Permanent Secretary, while declaring open the technical session, noted that the focus of the session was on fine-tuning, developing and improving the commodity value chain development process.
Represented by the Director, Agricultural Land and Climate Change Management Services, Mr Shehu Bello, Umakhihe explained that the value chain approach to developing agriculture was intensified during the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, ATA (2011-2015).
His words: “The present administration has sustained and enhanced it via the successive frameworks of the Agricultural Promotion Policy (APP) 2016 – 2020 and the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP) 2022-2027. The ministry through the launch of NATIP has demonstrated commitment to address all conceivable challenges besetting the sector with a focus on strengthening and developing the agricultural value chain. The foundation to achieving the desired success is the commitment to the provision of incentives to increase the output and quality of agricultural commodities to meet and surpass national requirements. It is ultimately to achieve a diversified economic base with agriculture leading the way for the non-oil sectors of the economy.”
Agro Nigeria
