FG Partners NGOs, Private Organisations to Boost Food Security
The Federal Government says it remains committed to promoting and creating synergies with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the private sector to enhance efforts at ensuring food security, economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari stated this in Calabar on Thursday during the distribution of farm input to farmers in Cross River.
Represented by Mr Bassey Iwara, Director, Agric Business and Market Development in the ministry, the minister noted that the present administration has demonstrated the political will to transform the agriculture sector.
He noted that the President Bola Tinubu led administration is implementing various economic reforms to stimulate productive capacity, create jobs, and reduce cost of living.
Kyari further noted that emergency responses and targeted humanitarian actions have also been taken to ameliorate food crisis in the country.
"Consequently, the ministry has rolled out many programmes and projects to address some of the challenges of farmers and make food available, accessible and affordable to all Nigerians.
"The ministry has considered the implementation of short term plans and support mechanism to make essential farm inputs more affordable, and accessible to farmers through a transparent and accountable process.
"Our foremost concern is the facilitation of agro-input as and basic farm machinery to small-scale farmers, who are constrained by the high market cost of these essential inputs, and this need assistance," he stated.
Also, Mr Ekori Nsan, the state coordinator of the federal ministry of agriculture, asserted that the present administration has bene putting smiles on the faces of farmers irrespective of the degree.
He urged that farmers to put the items in the manner and where they were supposed to be used
According to him, "The era of collext and sell or dump is gone, a follow up mechanism have ben put in place and it will be very bad goe us to here stories on this."
Speaking for the beneficiaries, Mr Asuquo Asuquo commended the government for deeming it fit to provide them with these inputs.
He, however, appealed that the farmers are trained on how to operate these inputs.(NAN)
