Abubakar Kyari, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, said on Monday that the database of farmers benefiting from Federal Agricultural Intervention Programmes is corrupt and riddled with political interference.
The Minister said this when he appeared before a joint Committees of the National Assembly on Agriculture to defend the Ministry’s Budget for the 2024 fiscal year. Kyari expressed concerns about the accuracy of the existing farmers’ database.
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In June 2021, the Federal Government established a database aimed at monitoring and evaluating the performance of farmers benefiting from the Agricultural Sector for Food and Jobs Programme (AFJP). However, Kyari’s recent revelations cast doubt on the integrity of this system.
He asserted that it included the names of politicians who are not actual farmers, thereby undermining the effectiveness of agricultural intervention initiatives.
“Our main problem today is the clean data of farmers. Unless our team will have that, we can never get it right,” Minister Kyari emphasized during the session.
Kyari highlighted a specific instance where a political figure received a text message instructing him to redeem fertilizer, despite having no farming background.
“I would like to say here that we need to work together with the state and also with honorable members of the National Assembly and the state assemblies to make sure and come up with clean data of farmers,” Kyari urged, proposing a collaborative effort to rectify the situation.
The Minister assured the Committees that the Federal Government is committed to collaborating with National and State Assemblies to overhaul the farmers’ database. He advocated for a shift from property-centric data to plant-centric information, envisioning a comprehensive map of agricultural activities.
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Furthermore, Kyari noted the government’s plans to embrace smart agriculture, aiming to launching technology-driven processes. He emphasized the need to attract youth to agriculture, highlighting its potential as a source of wealth and a key pillar for sustaining Nigeria’s economy.
