The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Alhaji Muhammad Nanono has said he would renew the existing policies on the sector such as the Agricultural Promotion Policy (APP) to boost farm productivity in the country.
He disclosed this at the commissioning of the Centre for Dryland Agriculture Farm (CDA) and Agri- Business Incubation Centre, recently in Bayero University, Kano, Kano State.
The minister also challenged Bayero University Kano and relevant centres such as the CDA to support the ministry to build staffs capacity on land and water management as well as the natural resources.
This, he noted would help boost rural livelihoods and reduce climate change impacts, especially on agricultural practices.
“We will put in place a mechanism to revitalise the existing agricultural policies in order to meet the needs and aspirations of President Muhammadu Buhari in diversifying Nigeria’s economy, using agriculture as a driving force,” Nanono said.
Speaking at the event, Nanono acknowledged noble efforts of the centre stressing that it is focusing on farm commodity value chains to drive the desired change in the sector.
“It is worth noting that the competences and the experiences gained by this centre over the years informed our decision to include its leadership to be among the team of experts that are currently developing the new agricultural policy and strategic plan for the country”.
In his remarks, BUK Vice Chancellor, Prof. Muhammad Bello, described the institution as one of the few elite universities to complete the phase III of the World Bank ACE project titled ‘ ACE IMPACT “.
He said when the call was made in 2018 for submission of entries; two of the proposals from BUK were successful, making BUK one of the few elite Universities in Africa with more than one Africa Centre of Excellence.
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