The federal government is planning to bring together a diverse community of organisational partners and strategic stakeholders in the ongoing efforts to transform agriculture and agro-allied systems in Nigeria. These will involve representatives of the public, private and social sectors.
This is to enhance the commitment for innovation and new technologies to enable factors for Inclusive Agri-Food System Transformation and Smallholder farmers’ empowerment.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, FMA&FS, Senator Abubakar Kyari.
He was speaking when he received the Associate Vice President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. Donal Brown at the ministry headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
He commended IFAD for what he called her fidelity to due diligence in the existing operations of FGN/IFAD Portfolios. The minister said, “The smooth implementation of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise – Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), Value Chain Development Program (VCDP) Additional Financing (AF) and Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) Program, underscores the unique quality of our strategic partnership.”
Senator Kyari said Nigeria is committed to working closely with IFAD on Inclusive Agri-Food System Transformation and Smallholder farmers’ empowerment, while lauding the government’s commitment to partnership with IFAD on Innovative Finance for Food System.
He added that “There is no doubt that the trio of the Inclusive Agri-Food System Transformation, Smallholder farmers’ empowerment and Innovative Financing are levers of change that offer a unique opportunity to accelerate global food systems growth, leveraging on new sustainable models for better agricultural productivity, safer environment, richer nutrition, and better livelihood for rural communities.”
Reiterating IFAD’s commitment to food production, Dr Brown said Nigeria is one of IFAD’s strongest partners and part of his mission is to try to strengthen and deepen that partnership. He said, “For us, it’s important for two reasons. One, it is a sign of the commitment of the government to IFAD, and secondly, all the money that we raise through our replenishment cycle is money that we immediately program back into our projects in countries like Nigeria. So the more money we raise, the more money for countries like Nigeria.”
Brown said further, “I hear very good things about the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise – Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) project that you were talking about and I am supportive of additional financing for the second phase there. I also hear very good things about the VCDP project, but I also hear some issues about how we can improve the efficiency and the performance of that project.
“I would like to address those issues if we’re to look at an extension of that project because I think some of the issues that need to be addressed need to be addressed before I can look at the extension.”