THE Federal Government have launched the Joint Sector Steering Committee to provide a platform to assess the performance and results of the agriculture sector.
Inaugurating the Steering Committee, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Shehu Ahmed said the Committee will also assist the government in setting sector policy and priorities.Â
According to him “the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with major stakeholders is charged with the responsibility of developing policy in order to create a conducive environment to stimulate greater private sector participation in agriculture to enable the business side assume its appropriate role as the engine of economic growth.
“The purpose of the policy document is to provide approach to building an agribusiness ecosystem that will stem the tide of food importation through import substitution so as to earn significant foreign exchange from agriculture.
Dr Ahmed who was represented by the director planning and policy co-ordination, Dr Awul Mai-Dabino, however said “the objective of the Joint Sector Review is to provide a platform to assess the performance and results of the agriculture sector and to assist government in setting sector policy and priorities.
“It also assess how well stakeholders implemented pledges and commitment cooperation agreements in the sector. This objective is however consistent with the policy thrust of the present administration in agriculture”.
Speaking further, the Permanent Secretary said “the African Heads of States and Government during the 23rd Regular Sessions of the African Union at Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, committed to accelerating agricultural growth and transformation of shared prosperity a d improved livelihood.
“This was to ensure mutual accountability for actions and results in the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) process over the next 10 years (2015-2025); they also intend to undertake biennial reviews of the implementation of the Malabo commitments. This assignment therefore is in line with this commitment”.