The Federal Government of Nigeria has embarked on an ambitious plan to capture the data of 2 million farmers across the country within the next 3 months. This effort is led by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, who signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to create a comprehensive farmers’ register.
According to Kyari, “What we have just signed with NIMC is the development of the farmers’ register. We are going to use the platform that NIMC has, that is the National Identity Number (NIN) and also the card which will contain all the biometric information of the individual farmers.” He emphasised that this initiative will help the government to identify genuine farmers and their farmlands, and target interventions effectively.
Kyari noted that the data of the farmers would be based in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and that the registration process would be done in phases. “We have initially to register two million. And that, I think, will take at least three months. It is going to be like a pilot as we signed. Subsequently, we are going to upscale it to six million in the second batch.”
The minister stressed that the initiative is part of the government’s efforts to enhance food security and support real farmers in producing more and achieving successful harvests. He said, “This is in line with Mr President’s eight-point agenda on food security to intervene and support real farmers who will now produce more and give us successful and bountiful harvests.”
