Stakeholders in the agricultural sector have called for the conduct of a National Agricultural Sample Census (NASC), to provide data needed for proper planning of policy formulation and implementation in agriculture and to attain food security.
The Chief Executive Officer of Green Sahara Farms, Suleiman Dikwa, while speaking with journalists on the issue, noted that the exercise is very important; saying without accurate data, there can never be proper planning.
Dikwa said the sample census would address the challenges facing the agricultural sector, but sounded a note of warning that the exercise may not achieve its goal if the Federal Government is not sincere in setting the right modalities in place.
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He explained that a community based resident approach, which collects information and intervenes at the community level, is the solution rather than the third party approach, lamenting that as the case is in Nigeria, the operators of the interventions are the architects of the manipulation of the system.
“The issue is not that of the census, but the modality deployed to gather the information. If the census is conducted and the same players who compromise the system are engaged to gather the information, then the purpose is defeated. The general census is coming up next year and I assume that occupation will be one of the information required and therefore can serve the same purpose.”
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The Assistant Director/Head of Agro-statistics Division, National Bureau of Statistics, Abuja, Bishop Ohioma, while commenting, disclosed that the bureau is ready to conduct the NASC across all the local councils, and that the training of trainers exercise will commence this month for a period of 60 days.
“We will also look at the food security situation across all the local councils within the states and we should be able to make recommendations to the government. The problem we have in Nigeria for policy making is the problem of data,” he said.
