To ensure proper planning, accurate input distribution, identify genuine farmers, and eliminate portfolio farmers, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Nigeria has partnered with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in the country to create a farmer’s register.
The National Identity Number (NIN) enabled process will involve capturing each farmer’s biometrics through NIMC, the farmland, and the location.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) has taken a significant step towards enhancing the livelihoods of Nigerian farmers. Earlier today, FMAFS signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).… pic.twitter.com/EzJhNmZrWj
— NIMC (@nimc_ng) January 15, 2025
Speaking to journalists following the signing of an MoU with NIMC, Senator Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, said the exercise would allow the government to identify genuine farmers in need of interventions and how to direct those interventions.
“So that is where we are now going to actually register a genuine farmer, which will have only one biometric and one NIN number.
“So we know actually who we are going to, in terms of intervention, who we are going to target, and that is the first, we’ll have the primary information”
“and then the secondary information will now give us the location of the farmland, the geolocation of the farmland, the types of crops, the types of soil, the type of farm cultivation, whether it is irrigation or wet, rain-fed irrigation, rain-fed cultivation, and even, like I said, different types of crops,” he further explained.
Senator Kyari, while noting that being able to deal with genuine farmers in the country would save money and boost harvest and food security, stated that the pilot phase of the exercise, which will last 3 months, targets 2 million farmers.
While responding to questions from journalists, the Director General of NIMC, Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote said the organisation would work to ensure genuine farmers were captured across the country.
“We have offices in every local government across the country and we also have state offices in every state, so we will be utilising all of our resources to be able to ensure that goes down.
“So our teams have formed a working group and they are definitely going to go out in the field to operationalise the plan that has been agreed today, which we have signed in the MOU.
“So we have, through our partnership with the private sector, we have the front-end partners who are working with NIMC in the community areas, so they would be able to reach out to the farmers.” She added
According to her, the platform would be a collection of verified records that the ministry can use to efficiently plan how to guarantee that these farmers have access to various government intervention programs.
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