Stakeholders in the agricultural sector have concluded concluded the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) “‘Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Improved Data and Information Systems for Policy Planning and Tracking the SDGs in Nigeria.
The stakeholders include, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The project which aims to support relevant government MDAs with the right tools to collate/manage data for the overall development of the country was brought to an end with a end-of-project stakeholders’ workshop which reflected in detail the key project achievements, lessons learned, challenges faced, and together map-out a way forward for the project that has for the last 3 years- strengthened Institutional capacities for Improved Data and Information Systems necessary for Policy Planning and Tracking the SDGs in Nigeria.
Speaking during the workshop that was held in Abuja recently, FAO Nigeria Country Director, Mr Fred Kafeero, said the programme was in response to the federal government’s request for capacity building for its personnel in monitoring and evaluation and in agricultural data collection and management, FAO Nigeria put up this Technical Cooperation Programme.
He said the UN places high importance on data and statistics especially in monitoring of SDG implementation. In July this year the SDG Report 2021 was launched. The report reviews the progress of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, using the latest available data and estimates to track global progress of the 17 Goals with in-depth analysis of selected indicators for each Goal.
In a goodwill message, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Mr Simon Harry, said the National Bureau of Statistics is working assiduously to increase data gathering in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
He said in the last two decades no censor has been conducted in the sector, hence, it is pertinent that adequate, timely and reliable statistics on the sector are readily available for policy formulation, planning, monitoring and evaluation of the progress of programmes and projects.
He said NBS will commence the census by February 2022 and it will run through the year to December 2022.
On completion of the census, the result will also form a statistical framework for the conduct of subsequent agriculture surveys in Nigeria, adding that the agricultural census is long overdue as it is one of Nigeria’s most important economic sectors employing 50% of the labour force directly and indirectly.
