The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has pledged to partner with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on policy alignment to reform cooperatives and the National Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC).
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, gave the assurance during a courtesy visit by a NAICOM delegation on Friday in Abuja.
Abdullahi said partnership, cooperation, and policy alignment were critical to national development.
He said insurance for cooperative societies was essential, in line with global best practices.
According to him, this must be done without losing the cooperative identity in terms of its values, integrity, and governance, among others.
“It is something that is desirable in terms of economic diversification and support for small-scale holders, among others.
“Studies have shown that most countries with stable economic performance actually have very viable cooperatives.
“So we truly want this to materialize based on President Bola Tinubu’s desire to build a one-trillion-dollar economy.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu is clear — to improve governance, every sector must harmonize policies,” he said.
He described the meeting as a milestone and said the ministry was prepared to strengthen collaboration with the commission.
Abdullahi said the ministry sought a strong technical working relationship with NAICOM to transform the food system.
“We are looking at having a Memorandum of Understanding between the ministry and NAICOM regarding NAIC and cooperative reform,” he said.
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of NAICOM, Mr Olusegun Omosehin, said the visit was to seek partnership in revamping NAIC and cooperatives.
Omosehin said the initiative aligned with the administration’s agenda on peace, security, and economic stability.
He said NAIC, the country’s specialized agricultural insurer, was under the ministry’s supervision.
According to him, NAIC plays a fundamental role in protecting smallholder farmers and strengthening food security resilience.
He said the objectives required policy alignment to achieve the desired results in the agricultural sector.
“The visit is basically to announce our partnership to align policies in the agricultural space so that we can jointly elevate NAIC to a level where it can deliver on its promises.
“Nigerians need NAIC to optimize food production,” he said.
