The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to create a database for Nigerian farmers.
This initiative aims to enhance support for interventions for farmers and boost food security in line with President’s eight-point agenda.
The database, known as the farmer register, will utilise the National Identity Number (NIN) and biometric information to identify genuine farmers and their farmlands. This will help address issues and provide targeted support to farmers.
In the pilot phase, 2 million farmers will be registered within 3 months, with plans to upscale to 6 million in the second phase. The NIMC has a 3-month timeline to capture the biometric information of farmers and has formed a working group to operationalize the plans.
To reach rural farmers, the NIMC will partner with the private sector and utilise its offices in every local government across the country. The initiative also includes a financially inclusive card that will provide various functionalities for farmers.
Abubakar Kyari, the minister of Agriculture and Food Security, revealed this in his remarks at the signing ceremony which held in the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, he stated, “What we have just signed now with the National International Commission is the development of a farner register. We are going to use the platform that NIMC has, that is to say, the National Identity Number (NIN), and also the card, which will contain all the biometric information of the individual farmer.
The minister also noted that the process is in line with Mr. President’s 8-point agenda on food security to intervene and support the real farmer, which will now produce more and give the nation a successful and bountiful harvest.
The Minister added, "The mandate of NIMC is to ensure that we enroll every single Nigerian citizen and every legal resident in Nigeria”.