ABUJA (National Conference Report) – Commendations and criticisms have trailed the report of the National Conference Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources on Tuesday June 17, 2014 as the Conference commenced debate on the 44-paged report earlier presented by the Committee Chairman, Umaru Muhammad Hadeija.
Sources from the Conference Secretariat said that the report was an assessment of Nigeria’s agricultural and water resources policies, especially as they relate to food security and refocusing of agriculture as a business to create jobs and wealth. “It is also the most viable way to stem the current large scale rural-urban youth migration and thus proves the most viable solution to permanently deal with the problems of insurgency, armed robbery and kidnapping currently bedeviling the nation,” the Conference report indicated.
It added that the Committee recommended for particular attention to focus on increasing agricultural productivity through giving keen interest to the selection of adequate and appropriate land for agricultural production which would lead to meaningful rapid and increased crop productivity.
“Attention should be paid to immediate extensive of needs assessment for the soil and water laboratories available in Nigeria so as to promote accurate soil testing and consequent appropriate fertilizer, liming and water quality assessments for increased productivity in rain-fed and irrigated agriculture in the country. To address the current critical shortage of manpower in the sector, the Committee demanded immediate passage of the Bill for the establishment of the Nigerian Soil Science Institute which it said is pending in the National Assembly,” it noted.
“Describing land as the most fundamental asset in agricultural practice, the Committee noted that accessibility to land has been limited by the Land Use Act whose presence in the Constitution it described as a disincentive to agricultural development because it tends to discourage investments in land.”
According to the report, the Committee lamented the dearth of qualified and trained manpower to adequately drive the policies and programmes in agriculture and water resources sectors and declared that Nigeria is facing a systemic failure, owing to inadequate manpower. The delegates based on this analogy, recommended that deliberate policies be put in place to attract Nigerian youths to study agricultural related courses in colleges of agriculture, polytechnics and universities.
It said that such courses and the outcome of the research should be re-tailored towards developing curricular and researches aimed at improving local technologies that are sustainable and adaptable to local manpower usage. It recommended that the Federal Government should substantially divest from direct programme implementation in the field, concern itself mainly with regulatory policy issues and the articulation of strategic national direction as well as provide guidance to states, among others.
To ensure effective policy implementation and harmonization, the Committee recommended the establishment of a National Agricultural Programme Co-ordinating Agency. “The agency, it noted would provide technical support to the states in planning, formulating and designing agricultural programmes based on the States’ priorities and comparative advantage, working closely with the States agencies.” It would also assist the States in carrying out periodic evaluation and particularly impact assessment of the States and federal projects and programmes and coordinate the gathering, up-dating and dissemination of national agricultural data, including marketing and price information.
The Committee envisaged that the agency would be involved in maintaining a two-way track of information flow between the federal and state governments on the performance of the Federal Government towards facilitating the initiation of corrective measures where necessary or desirable. Also mentioned was co-ordination and monitoring of the special intervention programmes of the Federal Government as well as the donor assisted programmes and providing implementation support for such programmes.
On the aspect of research and development as the key function of the Federal Government it was recommended that this would enhance their research output and synergy and strengthen their contribution to national development. The report cautioned on the need to protect the farmers, especially the small-scale holders from the vagaries and whims of market forces and the need to guarantee market stability for agricultural produce as well as protect and sustain farmers’ interest in agricultural production.
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