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In a bid to curtail harvest losses due to climate change, Federal Government has expedited action to incorporate the Agricultural Insurance Scheme into the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket Program, NAGS-AP, to enhance sustainability and food security.

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abdullahi Sabi Aliyu revealed this during the Agricultural Insurance Train-the-Trainer Workshop held at Debbie’s Upper Class Event and Recreation Centre, Orozo, Abuja recently.

He pointed out that the purpose of integrating the Agricultural Insurance Scheme into the NAGS- AP program was to protect the investment and interventions being made by the government and the financing partner, the African Development Bank (AfDB), via NAGS-AP in addressing the sustainability and security of our local food systems.

The Minister recalled that “we commenced this program in the 2023 dry season with wheat cultivation. So far, we have been fortunate to have favourable production due to good weather, resulting in a bountiful harvest”.

“It is more evident than ever that we need a climate risk mitigation solution to close the many protection gaps arising from climate change risks such as floods, droughts, pests, diseases, etc capable of leading to crop failure or harvest losses”, he added.

Abdullahi noted that these risks have now become central issues affecting the government, financiers, and the beneficiary farmers, who stand to lose the most from seasons of bad harvests, adding that such adverse conditions could wipe out investments and the labour invested in the program leading to significant food price inflation as we are witnessing today.

The Minister pointed out one of the unfortunate incidences of the 2023 wet farming season, in which ginger farmers in Kaduna suffered immensely from the outbreak of the ginger blight disease, losing over 90% of their total harvest for the season.

He stated that only a few of those ginger farmers who took the insurance protection received monetary compensation for their harvest losses, noting that these set of farmers could boast of returning to their farms with little or no financial assistance, unlike their uninsured counterparts who had to dip into their meagre savings to be able to continue farming.

In his words, “it was estimated that Nigerian ginger farmers incurred losses amounting to N12 billion due to the catastrophic blight epidemic that decimated their crops in 2023. That is some food for thought and something that we all have to bear in mind; as we are at all times one or two bad harvest seasons away from losing our food supplies.

Furthermore, guidance from the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook report, recently released by the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation in the first quarter of this year, has alerted us that 148 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in 31 states are high flood-risk areas, while 249 LGAs in 36 States and the FCT fall within moderate flood-risk areas.

In simple terms, 397 LGAs out of the total 774 LGAs in Nigeria, representing over 51% of our farming areas, are at risk of flooding”, the Minister emphasized

He, therefore, pointed out that the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President is poised to arrest the situation through the deployment of climate-smart agriculture for the establishment of a resilient food security system because climate-smart agriculture remains the only means for adapting to climate change.

“This necessity has driven the Ministry to establish a joint working committee, comprising representatives from the NAGS secretariat of the Ministry, NAIC, and Pula Advisors. This committee has been tasked with creating a practical framework to achieve a national Agricultural Insurance scheme for the NAGS program”.

He added that one of the key deliverables, which the Ministry had approved, was to organize a training and sensitization program on Agricultural Insurance to educate stakeholders on its features and benefits.

The Minister, therefore expressed his gratitude to the Joint Working Committee and looked forward to the outcomes of the workshop and a subsequent report on the next steps towards implementing the Agricultural Insurance component for the ongoing NAGS 2023 wet season and subsequent dry and wet season programs.

In his opening remarks, the National Project Coordinator, National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP), Mr. Isiaku Buba noted that the scheme was designed to broaden its operational horizon to carter and accommodate the interest of the farmers and other relevant stakeholders operating along the production line of the chain.

He stressed that the Agricultural Insurance component of the NAGS-AP Project was being designed and propelled by tested and experienced hands from the insurance industry citing that NAIC and PULA Advisors Limited are present to inform stakeholders of the benefits and the proposed implementation strategies to be followed to incorporate the important component into the programme with a view to achieving the desired goals.

In her goodwill message, the Managing Director, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, NAIC, Mrs Folashade Joseph pledged the readiness of NAIC to partner with stakeholders in the Agricultural and other sectors of the economy by providing sound insurance and other risk management expertise with a view to reducing risks bedeviling these ventures and improving national agricultural output towards the attainment of food security.

In attendance were stakeholders from All Farmers Association, NAIC, PULA Advisors, USAID, REX Insurance, and NAIDA, amongst others.

Eremah Anthonia (Mrs.)
Chief Information Officer
For: Director Information
22/8/2024

 

 

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr.Temitope Fashedemi has inaugurated a Technical Working Group (TWG) on farmers Data capturing to identify and develop modalities to achieve seamless database.

Speaking during the inauguration, held at the Ministry’s Conference room in Abuja recently, the Permanent Secretary stated that the inauguration of the Committee was a vital initiative that would shape the future of Nigeria’s farmers through proper identification, assist the Ministry to deliver agricultural inputs and support to the right farmers.

He revealed that the Ministry would collaborate with the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, to be able to achieve the desired robust database.

The Permanent Secretary recalled that recently, the Minister inaugurated the National Executive Committee on the Implementation of the Nigeria Farmers’ soil health card scheme to enhance agricultural productivity and ensure a food-secured future for the country in line with Present Administration’s mandate in agriculture sector.

Speaking further, he stated that the TWG under the leadership of the Director, Department of Planning and Policy Coordination, with the participation of the Directors of Technical Departments and the NIMC representative, would play a critical role in achieving the vision.

Mr Fashedemi, therefore, tasked the committee to develop effective modalities for collaboration between the Ministry and NIMC towards ensuring seamless data capture and management.

In his remarks, the Director, Card Management Services Department, NIMC,Dr. Peter Iwegbu stated that NIMC has the mandate to establish, own, operate, maintain and manage the national identity database in Nigeria, register persons covered by the Act, assign a unique National Identification Number (NIN) and issue general Multi-purpose Cards (GMPC) to those who are citizens of Nigeria as well as others legally residing within the country.

He revealed that the programme would enable government manage the intervention across the country, validate soil, target support (specify target that you want to support i.e farmers), predictability, identify and channel whom you intend to support amongst others.

The Committee’s Terms of Reference (TOR), include to develop a comprehensive work plan with clear timelines, roles, and responsibilities for each phase of the data capture initiative, design robust data collection tools and methodologies to capture essential farmer information, including personal identification, farm size, crop types etc; identify training programs for field Officers and data collectors to ensure data accuracy and consistency, establish clear terms and conditions for the collaboration between the Ministry and NIMC, fostering a strong partnership and any other relevant work/directives that will facilitate the work of the committee.

Membership of the TWG were drawn from technical departments of the Ministry and NIMC.

Eremah Anthonia (Mrs.)
Chief Information Officer
For: Director Information
18/8/2024

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and other relevant stakeholders have strategized to implement the Nigeria Farmers Soil Health Card Scheme (NFSHCS), aimed at improving agricultural productivity and ensure a food secured future for the country.

Speaking during the Nigeria Farmers’ Soil health Card Scheme Development and Implementation Workshop held in Abuja, recently, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen Abubakar Kyari, represented by the Director, Department of Agricultural Land and Climate Change Management Services, Mr Oshadiya Olanipekun, stated that NFSHCS would lead to cost reduction in farming activities, increase agricultural productivity, high income and profit for Nigerian Farmers.

The Minister revealed that the NFSHCS would promote site and crop specific, sustainable soil health management practices and seamless application of fertilizers, among others.

Kyari stated that ‘’Healthy soil is rich in organic matter and mineral resources thereby providing optimal support for the plant growth and maximum productivity’’.

He added that healthy soil would ensure clean air, quality water, bountiful crops’ yield, productive grazing lands, diverse wildlife, and beautiful landscapes.

He further revealed that NFSHCS would provide online delivery of soil health cards to the Nigerian farmers by using soil health card portals. He pointed out that the scheme would also provide soil testing facilities and data based on the fertility status of Nigeria soil.

In his remarks, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi pointed out that the scheme would ensure a single window approach from collection to issuing of Soil Health Card (SHC) to Nigerian farmers to avoid unnecessary delays.

He added that the SHC would have information on soil health through 12 parameters, including Macro and Micronutrients ph levels and organic content.

One of the stakeholders, a representative of the Institute of Agriculture Research & Training, IAR&T, Dr. Aduramigba Vincent stated that the implementation of the scheme would reduce input cost and increase the production and livelihood of Nigerian farmers.

In attendance were representatives drawn from the Ministry’s Development Partners; Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Institute of Agriculture Research and Training (IAR&T), among others

Ezeaja Ikemefuna
AD, Information
For: Director, Information
14/8/2024