The Kaduna Government says it is strengthening coordination among agricultural stakeholders to reduce duplication of interventions and improve policy implementation.
Murtala Dabo, Commissioner for Agriculture, said this on Thursday at a quarterly sector coordination meeting under the Policy and Agricultural Systems Strengthening (PASS) project in the state.
PASS is supported by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) with technical assistance from Synergos.
Represented by Dr Pakachi Zakariya, Director of Veterinary Services, the commissioner said the platform brought together stakeholders across the agricultural value chain.
According to him, the aim is to review activities, share updates and align interventions with government priorities.
“This forum enables stakeholders to understand government programmes and identify areas for collaboration.
“A lot of people do not know what government is doing or how to engage. This creates that opportunity,” he said.
Esther Ibrahim, Programme Officer, AGRA, said the platform was promoting policy coherence and better coordination among agricultural stakeholders.
“For us, this is about bringing all actors together to ensure coherence and reduce duplication,” she stated.
Ibrahim added that stakeholders presented reports on second-quarter activities while providing updates for the third quarter.
According to her, the participation of the Kaduna State Bureau of Statistics will strengthen data-driven planning in the sector.
“We may not have all the answers, but we are aligning on solutions and taking them to government,” she said.
Victor Adejor, Country Director, Synergos, said the platform was critical to policy formulation and implementation.
Adejor said it brought together farmers, government, private-sector operators, seed companies, development partners, media organisations and other key actors.
He added that the involvement of ministries, departments and agencies with agriculture-related mandates was helping to improve coordination.
Adejor noted that the platform had contributed to the development of policies, including contract farming and gender policies.
The country director said the coordination was reducing duplication and fragmentation of interventions in the agricultural sector.
“A lot is happening because people are talking. People are coming together, reasoning together and planning together,” Adejor said.
