The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, has called for a strong partnership between the Ministry and the media towards achieving food security in Nigeria.
Ogunbiyi, who spoke during a one day workshop with Agriculture Correspondents in Abuja with the theme, “Building partnership with the media for food security,” pointed out that the Ministry’s mandate aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, which focuses on promoting agricultural development, improving food security, creating jobs, and enhancing the livelihoods of farmers.
In his words: “The press has significant power to change negative narratives. I encourage you to use this power to sensitize Nigerians and encourage them to take a renewed interest in agriculture. Together, we can feed ourselves and develop our nation,” he said.
He further urged the media to support the Ministry’s efforts by educating farmers on various farming methods, farm inputs, and agricultural practices to boost productivity.
“Through your constructive engagements with the Ministry, you will be in a unique position to educate farmers on methodologies, inputs availability, and how these can be accessed to improve their yield,” he stated.
In his welcome address, the Director of the Department of Information, Dr. Joel Oruche emphasized the need for stronger collaboration, especially given the current administration’s focus on food security.
He said, “Your duty is to continuously educate the public on the policies, programs, and activities of the Ministry that impact farmers, especially smallholder farmers who rely on your ability to inform them on methodologies, input availability, and application of techniques.”
In his presentation, the National Project Coordinator, National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket, NAGS-AP, Ishaku Buba, highlighted the mandate of project to include; increase in total food production to crash the continued rises in prices of agricultural commodities and to make it affordable to the average Nigerian.
He pointed out the goals, objectives of the project and the achievements made so far to include; a total of 647,500 farmers registered across the 37 States including FCT on the NAGs-AP project platform since its commencement in 2023/2024 dry season out of which 628,406 farmers were supported with subsidized Agricultural Inputs packages, amongst others.
In his response, the Chairman, Agriculture Correspondents of Nigeria, ACAN, Mr. Collins Nnebuife commended the management for their support and appealed to the Technical Directors to make themselves more accessible to clarify issues.
He also solicited for the media to be carried along in programmes outside Abuja and called for the possibility of holding the workshop quarterly to keep them abreast of the developments in the agriculture sector.
Highlight of the event was presentations delivered by Director, Extension Services Department, Director Rural Development, National Project Coordinator, NAGS -AP, and the representative of Director Mechanization.
In attendance were various agricultural correspondents drawn from print, electronic media, and online publishers.