BY VICTORIA ONU, ABUJA
PERFORMANCE level will now determine the budgetary allocation to any agency under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Ddevelopment, Muhammad Sabo Nanono, disclosed this while speaking at the Retreat on Food security and Sustainable in Abuja.
He said that with the current state of agriculture sector, there was a need for all parastatals to be accountable by carrying out visible projects that would revamp the sector and contribute to food security.
He said, “We need to strengthen our service delivery mechanism, since much is expected from the sector to enhance the country’s capacity on food security, employment generation and wealth creation. Only then will we be able to address the impact of the global health emergency and the high expectation of the present administration on the Agriculture sector.
“We all need to re-commit ourselves to the development of the sector by aligning progress, fine-tuning strategies, de-risking options, streamlining interventions, pooling resources and implementing projects. Failure, is not an option.”
Nanono, while noting that food security had remained a priority for the Buhari administration, urged the support of stakeholders to facilitate programmes to farmers on mechanisation, extension delivery, commodity production, storage facilities, agro-processing, grazing reserves, livestock transformation and fisheries.
He explained that the ministry, in an effort to reposition the agricultural research system, had secured about 20,000 to 100,000 hectares of land per State for agricultural use, and was promoting agro and agro-allied cluster activities nationwide.
The Permanent Secretary, Abdulkadir Mu’azu, in his remark said that to achieve food security, the ministry and its Parastatals needed alignment of programmes and projects.
He said, “Our responsibility is to align sectoral strategies with the goal of social inclusion, as well as economic diversification and livelihood expansion, and therewith, implement policies, programmes and projects for impactful development in the country.
“To do this, we must be conversant with mandates, rules, guidelines, and procedures to synchronise the delivery of interventions in the sector at the Ministry and Parastatals’ levels. That is, every Accounting Officer has a duty to ensure project prioritisation and prudent funding within the parameters of needs assessment, procurement procedure and execution verification.
“In this regard, our stakes, responsibilities and commitments are anchored on inclusiveness, transparency and accountability in the conceptualisation of initiatives and interventions, through strategic partnership with State Governments, Farmer Associations, Private Sector Organisations and Development Partners.”
