#Agriculture

Effective agroclimatology ’ll boost food security-Stakeholders

By Fatima Muraina

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In a bid to ensure that the required goal for food sufficiency and sustainability in the state and country at large is met, government at all levels have been charged to strengthen the agro-climatology and ecological unit of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The move would help farmers adapt to climate change/variability through purchase of modern equipment for accurate information on weather.
This was contained in a communique issued by stakeholders at the end of one day Joint Sector Review (JSR) meeting and Biennial Report (BR) on Nigeria’s Agriculture Sector Performance on the 2nd AU Biennial Review Exercise organised by the Justice Development and Peace Centre (JDPC) in conjunction with ActionAid Nigeria held in Akure recently.
It called on the MDAs in the agriculture sector to have a consultative meeting with CSOs, farmers groups and other stakeholders in agriculture during the preparation of each years’ fiscal budget which will ensure adequate representation of farmers while monitoring and evaluation of project embarked by MDAs.
The meeting advocated a strategic agriculture financing through provision of grants for smallholder farmers, modern and simple machineries, improved inputs, adequate access to extension services which it described as vital for the advancement of farmers outcome.
It charged the Ondo State Information Technology Agency to coordinate the collection and collation of data for MDAs in the agriculture sector for easy access during the BR process.
The agency, it stressed, should also collect primary data from communities as it relates to the BR.
It raised the urgent need for the private sector to invest in agriculture which it noted could be enhance adequate social infrastructures such as good farm roads, agro logistics centre, export promotion among others are built in standardizing farm output for international market.
Stakeholders called for a designed reward system for countries that reached the benchmark score of CAADP commitment as they clamoured for a reserve environmental and resource degradation and conserving the natural resources necessary for food security.
It observed the importance of what it called an annual increase of public investment in agriculture and rural development and research which it noted will as well, facilitate meeting the target of African countries in curbing hunger.

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