Nasarawa inaugurates facilitation, advocacy committee on state agricultural policy

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By Our Reporter, Lafia

Nasarawa State Ministry of Agriculture has inaugurated a 13-member Agricultural Policy Facilitation and Advocacy Committee (NAPFAC), towards developing a robust and effective State Agricultural Policy (SAP) and State Agriculture Investment Plan (SAIP).

The SAP and SAIP are geared towards repositioning the state’s agricultural sector for food security, from production and through the entire value chain.

Mr Tanko Tunga, the State’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, inaugurated the committee on Thursday in Lafia.

He said that the committee, under the Alliance for Green Revolution Africa (AGRA) Nigeria – Nasarawa State Capability for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation Project, would work to reposition the state agricultural sector through an effective policy framework.

The commissioner said that the inauguration of the committee represented a milestone towards transforming the state’s agricultural sector, fostering sustainable development, and securing the livelihood of farmers and future generations.

“The establishment of NAPFAC underscores our unwavering commitment to robust, inclusive, and forward-looking agricultural policies that responds to the evolving needs of the people,” he said.

He said that the multidisciplinary composition of the committee – spanning MDAs, legislature, the academia, women group and the private sector embodied the believe in collaborative governance.

“It’s through such synergy that we can craft policies that are inclusive, sustainable and effective,” he said.

He noted that the committee’s work would serve as a catalyst for policy formulation; facilitate the implementation of state agricultural policy and the agricultural investment plan, and monitor their impact.

“Our goal is to position Nasarawa State as a leader in agricultural productivity, food security and rural development in Nigeria,” he said.

The commissioner urged members of the committee to approach their responsibility with a sense of patriotism, integrity and zeal.

“Your collective efforts will shape the future of agriculture in the state and uplift the lives of countless farmers and rural communities,” he said.

Tunga appreciated AGRA for supporting the state by funding the development of the SAP and SAIP documents and well as other partners working on the project.

In his remarks, Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, the Managing Director, Nasarawa Investment and Development Agency (NASIDA), an implementing partner on the project, underscored the significance of the committee to the project.

According to Abdullahi, the SAP and SAIP documents needs a great deal of politicking, advocacy and building a stakeholder consensus to ensure effective implementation.

“We need to build of the consensus of very high level policy makers that would drive the implementation of the strategy and the plan, hence the inauguration of the NAPFAC,” he said.

He expressed optimism that with the pedigree, credibility and wealth of experience of the committee, the policy would get the desires attention.

Abdullahi maintained that the committee would ensure that Nasarawa State get a policy that is in tune with current reality, stand the test of time and be used as shinning example of what states could replicate to grow the “bigger pie.

“What I mean by the bigger pie is Nigeria’s ambition to become self-sufficient in agriculture – in food value chain from production to processing.

“This is one sure way that we can achieve our goal of industrialisation and food security,” he added.

Also speaking, Mrs Juliet Lampoh,
AGRA Country Programme lead Nigeria, restated the organisation’s commitments to support the successful development and implementation of the SAP and SAIP.

“We would be happy to see how this policy would drive investment into the agricultural sector.

“We want to see how our policy here will help drive sustainable increase in agricultural production, which is part of our commitment in AGRA.

“We look at how to drive inclusion by getting young people and women involved in the framework.

” If we are developing any agricultural policy and we want it to drive job creation for the young people, then we have to bring them to the table to get what will make sense for them.

“We will be happy to follow the process of the development of the agricultural policy and agriculture investment plan, hopefully we will be here to see it launched and then we see how it will be implemented.

“AGRA stands ready to support the state in the delivery of this policy when it’s done,” she said.