AGRIC MINISTRY PARTNERS NIMC: INAUGURATES COMMITTEE ON FARMERS’ DATA CAPTURING 18-08-24
By Sadiq Aminu The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr.Temitope Fashedemi has inaugurated a Technical Working Group on farmers Data capturing to identify and develop modalities to achieve seamless database.
Mr. Fashedemi made this known in Abuja, stating that the inauguration of the Committee was a vital initiative that would shape the future of Nigeria’s farmers through proper identification to assist the Ministry in delivering agricultural inputs and support 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.
Speaking further, he stated that the Technical Working Group 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.
The Permanent Secretary, therefore tasked the committee to develop effective modalities for collaboration between the Ministry and NIMC towards ensuring seamless data capturing and management.
The Director, Card Management Services Department, National Identity Management Commission, 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 interventions across the country, validate soil, target support (specify i.e farmers), predictability, identify and channel whom you intend to support amongst others.
The Committee’s Terms of Reference, 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 among others, and also 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, to foster a strong partnership and any other relevant work/directives that will facilitate the work of the committee.
Members of the technical working group were drawn from technical departments of the Ministry and NIMC.