FG set to verify farmers for food Security

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening collaboration with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to establish a credible database for genuine farmers.

According to a press statement made available to journalists, the minister of Agriculture, Senator Abubakar Kyari said that the renewed collaboration with NIMC would ensure that government interventions get to genuine farmers towards food security.

Kyari explained that the partnership would leverage on NIMC's digital identity infrastructure to ensure government agricultural grants, inputs and other intervention programmes reach only the verified farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs, just as he oppined that the initiative would eliminate leakages, improve transparency and strengthen the delivery of agricultural support.

The statement pointed on restructuring the subsidy to farmers saying "It shouldn't be a subsidy that will go on perpetually. We have a plan whereby beneficiaries receive support in the first year, the assistance reduces in the second year, and by the third year they should be able to stand on their own"

The Director-General of NIMC, Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote in the press release described agriculture as one of Nigeria's most strategic sectors for its critical role in ensuring food security and driving economic growth.

Coker-Odusote in statement noted that integrating the National Identification Number into agricultural programmes would improve accountability, reduce fraud, eliminate ghost beneficiaries and ensure that public resources are directed to genuine farmers.