The Federal Government is to make huge investment in all aspects of the agricultural value chain to ensure adequate and quality data for successful policies in the agricultural sector.
The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed stated this while speaking at the Training of Trainers workshop on the National Agriculture Sample Census (NASC) held in Abuja on Monday, News Agency of Nigeria reported
The Minister further explained that the Federal Government is very interested in making Nigeria a food sufficient nation which was why President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration had invested heavily in it since 2015, pointing at some of the investment made which are aimed at increasing output in the entire value chain to meet the country’s demand for food, export and employment.
“So, we will continue to invest heavily in all aspects of the agricultural value chain taking advantage of all our God-given resources to grow and develop the sector and derive the maximum benefits possible.
“All this cannot be done without the use of adequate and reliable data.
“The success of all our policies, plans and programmes can only be achieved with the right data hence a high premium government has placed on quality data.
“This can be seen in the transformation that has taken place in NBS over the years. NBS is among the few agencies that have recorded close to 100 per cent of its annual capital investment in recent years.
“This is further demonstration of commitment to use the instrumentality of sound statistics in designing appropriate policies to grow and develop all aspects of the economy in Nigeria,” she said.
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The Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer, National Bureau of Statistics, Prince Semiu Adeniran, also disclosed that the agency is boosting its statistical capacity in gathering agriculture data.
The NBS boss, said agriculture sector is the largest contributor to the countries economy and employment, stating that the sector alone, through its varrious value chain accounted for approximately 25 per cent of the economy, and employs more than 50% of the workforce of the country, both directly and indirectly.
“We need to know what parts of the country they are produced, the kinds of inputs needed, the size of manpower engaged, the sorts of challenges encountered and what other potential exist within the sector.
“All these kinds of information are what the NASC exercise seeks to collect.”
He added that when the National Agriculture Census is complete, it would provide a statistically sound base of data for policy makers, both public and private and help policy makers make important decisions on how to increase the total output and develop it to maximise its potential throughout the entire value chain