As part of efforts to strengthen the sustainable growth of the agricultural sector in Nigeria, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a stakeholder workshop to share perspective on policy outcomes of selected Agri-produce and their impacts on the economy of the country.
Communications Specialist of FAO – Nigeria, David Tsokar in a statement said the meeting held in Abuja on the 6th June 2024 under the umbrella of the policy options for optimizing Agriculture Sector Growth, Job creation and food security in Nigeria was aimed at sharing recent findings from FAO’s Monitoring and Analyzing Food and Agriculture Policies (MAFAP) programme.
He said it also targets to strategically improve awareness of participants on key existing methods that can be employed to address issues in the sector.
According to David, the Director of Planning and Policy Coordination in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMA&FS) Mr. Tanimu Ibrahim in his openning remarks noted that the exercise is relevant to the country.
Tanimu commended FAO for undertaking the analysis and gave the assurance that the outcome of the analysis would be used to support the present administration’s efforts of ensuring food and nutrition security in the country.
The FAO Representative ad interim in Nigeria Dominique Koffy Kouacou said the aim of MAFAP to bring out evidence-based policy options for improving the agricultural sector is to support the government of Nigeria overcome the food security and malnutrition challenges.
“We look forward to further engagements based on options revealed by the analysis carried out”, Mr. Koffy said.
Participants at the workshop included officers from the Bank of Agriculture, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, some Agriculture research institutes, development partners and other agencies.
Dr. Marco Sanchez, the Deputy Director of FAO’s Agrifood Economics and Policy Division in his presentation indicated that MAFAP had assisted countries in Africa and Asia to implement over 30 reforms since the program started. He further indicated that the case of Nigeria, the analysis revealed the top areas where investments should go in order to improve food and nutrition security and increase rural employment.
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Other presenters shared perspectives on how policies affecting commodity prices and value chains can be better managed for improved outcomes and also shared perspectives on trends in public expenditure in agriculture.
It was emphasized that policies need to be monitored after several years to know if they were achieving the intended results and, if not, it would be necessary to amend/revise the policies to see if different results can be obtained. Participants indicated interest in the analysis carried out and discussed how the results may guide policy making.
They also expressed interest in conducting further analysis on more commodities and in the prioritization of the government’s expenditure in agriculture for improved food and nutrition security outcomes.
