Food Security: Forum Urges FG, States On Smart Budgeting

• Experts urge the federal government to collaborate with states on budgeting for climate-smart agriculture to enhance food security and development
• The workshop aims to facilitate policy reforms and coordination for improved access to climate-resilient agricultural practices and biofortified nutrition

Economic and biofortified staple crops and foods experts have urged the federal government to collaborate with state governments on budgeting for climate-smart agriculture to increase food security, foster socioeconomic development, and improve living conditions for citizens nationwide.

They announced on Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria, at a one-day Consultative Policy Workshop on Climate and Biofortification organized by HarvestPlus and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS).

Participants from Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, and Gombe states were also expected to develop state-specific roadmaps.

Ms. Rewa Misra, Head of National Policy and Innovative Financing, HarvestPlus Washington, United States, stated that the workshop was about facilitating policy reform needed to enable scaling up access to climate-smart agriculture, input nutrition, bio-fortified nutrition, and farmers having access to climate-resilient farm products.

“There is a lot to learn for both the government and private sectors, and what is important is a coordinated roadmap to help the reforms and make them practical,” Misra said when asked to compare Nigerian climate-smart agriculture practices to international practices.

Dr. Yusuf Dollah, Country Manager of HarvestPlus Nigeria, stated that the meeting would allow stakeholders to share ideas on promoting policy implementation and budgeting for climate-tolerant crops.

We’ll start distributing N25,000 grant to vulnerable pensioners, FG tells NLC

The federal government announced its intention to distribute N25,000 grants to vulnerable pensioners nationwide starting in November.

These grants will be directed towards Nigerian Union of Pensioners members who are included in the expanded national social register of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme.

The disclosure was made on Thursday in Abuja through a statement by Rasheed Zubair, the media aide to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu.

The statement highlighted that this planned grant distribution was communicated during a meeting with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) led by its president, Joe Ajaero, in Abuja.