ARDS boss harps on boosting food security

By Stanley Onyekwere

The Mandate Secretary Agriculture & Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS), Mallam Abubakar Ibrahim has restated the determination of the FCT Administration to sustain the tempo of its  support programmes to enhance food security in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Abubakar made this assertion while reacting to the October 2022 cycle of Cadre Harmonise (CH) Food and Nutrition Security analysis report which indicated a significant reduction of over 30% in the population of food insecure households, from about 349,876 in October 2021 to 233,233 as at November 2022.

He attributed the achievement to the programmes of the Agriculture and Rural Development  supported passionately by the FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, who ensured that the Implementation of programmes are tailored in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda of revitalising the Agricultural sector.

He assured that the Secretariat will redouble its efforts to deliver on its mandate of repositioning Agricultural sector, as a lot is happening in the livestock sector as well as crop production. 

Earlier, while briefing the Mandate Secretary earlier on the report, the FCT Cadre Harmonise (CH) Coordinator, Deputy Director Rural Economy and Finance, Dr. Omole Olateju, had disclosed that the  National Programme for Food Security (NPFS)  of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development (FMARD) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and other technical Partners, conducts a biannual food Security situation analysis in 26 states of the country and FCT.

The report, according to him, is not only objective but verifiable as it contains details of the population and locations of the households.

He added that the overall objective of the exercise he noted was to help provide a guide for government in planning interventions for communities and households that require immediate humanitarian assistance.