Vice-President Kashim Shettima has constituted a technical committee to accelerate livestock development and staple crop production nationwide.
Shettima constituted the committee on Tuesday during a high-level meeting on agricultural sector performance and strategic interventions at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committee is expected to expedite the implementation of strategic interventions targeting wheat and other crops, as well as livestock development.
The meeting followed a recent engagement with President Bola Tinubu involving stakeholders across the agricultural sector and other critical sectors of the economy.
The committee comprises representatives of the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security; Water Resources and Sanitation; Livestock Development; and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI).
Other members include the Special Adviser and Coordinator of Presidential Livestock Reform and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness and Productivity Enforcement.
The committee will be coordinated by Ms Marion Moon, Technical Adviser to the Vice-President on Agriculture and Head of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit.
Shettima urged members to exchange ideas and develop a blueprint for implementing strategic interventions in the agricultural sector.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, said the meeting also deliberated on addressing critical challenges confronting farmers.
Kyari said that, during the meeting with the President, Shettima was mandated to identify existing challenges in the agricultural sector and develop measures to address them.
“Mr President has always encouraged year-round farming.
“We are looking at coordination across all sectors, including state and local governments, to determine how we can influence prices and prevent famine,” he said.
On the committee’s mandate, Kyari said it comprised technical representatives from various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) tasked with coordinating efforts and developing actionable resolutions.
“It is a technical committee with members from various MDAs who will coordinate efforts on behalf of all stakeholders and come up with resolutions for implementation,” he said.
Kyari said the committee’s report would be reviewed by another committee before being presented to the Vice-President and subsequently to the President.
Earlier, Moon said agricultural development was a shared responsibility among the federal, state and local governments.
She identified a disconnect among the three tiers of government, noting that existing gaps hindered effective understanding of developments at the subnational level.
“As we consider what we are doing and what we should prioritise, it is very important to ensure that we are in harmony and synergy with what is happening at the state level,” she said.(NAN)
