Shettima Sets Up Technical Committee to Boost Wheat Production, Livestock Development

The Federal Government has established a technical committee to accelerate wheat and other staple crop production, strengthen livestock development and address challenges affecting food security across Nigeria.

Vice President Kashim Shettima constituted the committee on Tuesday during a high-level meeting on agricultural sector performance and strategic interventions at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The committee is expected to develop an implementation blueprint for strategic agricultural interventions, with emphasis on increasing food production, expanding dry-season farming and improving coordination among relevant government agencies.

Shettima urged members to pool their expertise and develop practical strategies for implementing the interventions, stressing the need for coordinated action to achieve the government’s agricultural objectives.

The meeting followed a broader engagement with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last week involving stakeholders from agriculture and other sectors.

Members of the technical committee include representatives of the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Water Resources and Sanitation, and Livestock Development, alongside the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and officials responsible for presidential livestock reforms, agribusiness, productivity enforcement and food security.

The chief executives of the Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture, National Agricultural Land Development Authority, National Agricultural Seeds Council, National Agricultural Development Fund, National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization, National Sugar Council of Nigeria, Nigeria Commodities Exchange and National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure are also members.

The committee will be coordinated by the Vice President’s Technical Adviser on Agriculture and Head of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit, Marion Moon.

FG Targets Year-Round Farming

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the meeting examined critical challenges confronting farmers and ways to deploy available resources to increase wheat production and expand dry-season farming.

He explained that President Tinubu had directed the Vice President to identify and address persistent challenges in the agricultural sector following their meeting with stakeholders.

Kyari said the government was also working to strengthen coordination across the agricultural value chain and promote year-round farming.

He described the newly constituted committee as a technical body comprising representatives of ministries, departments and agencies mandated to coordinate interventions and develop recommendations for implementation.

According to the minister, the committee’s report will undergo further consideration before being presented to Shettima and subsequently to the President.

Moon Calls for Stronger Federal, State Collaboration

Earlier, Moon stressed that agricultural development required effective collaboration among the federal, state and local governments.

She identified gaps in coordination between the three tiers of government as a challenge to understanding agricultural activities and needs at the subnational level.

Moon said improved communication and alignment with state-level priorities were essential to ensuring that federal interventions addressed the actual needs of farmers and communities.

She urged stakeholders to establish greater synergy between federal programmes and agricultural initiatives being implemented by state governments.

The committee’s work is expected to inform the implementation of targeted agricultural interventions aimed at increasing staple crop production, strengthening livestock development and improving Nigeria’s food security.