On 10-11 December 2018, a training course on “Nigerian Agricultural Policies” was organized, which happens to be the first ever training course conducted by the Abuja Office of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) for the staff of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) in Abuja, and on behalf the Feed the Future Nigeria Agricultural Policy Project.
The training course, which was attended by 22 participants (13 male, 9 female), was delivered by Dr. George Mavrotas (Head of IFPRI’s Abuja Office and Chief of Party of the Feed the Future Nigeria Agricultural Policy Project) and Mr. Hyacinth Edeh (Research Analyst II at IFPRI Abuja Office) and contributed to broadening participants’ perspectives towards the various policies, programs and initiatives put in place by Nigeria’s successive governments. The course placed particular emphasis on more recent policy initiatives in Nigeria such as the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, the Agriculture Promotion Policy, the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan and the CAADP process among others. The course is also expected to further strengthen participants’ ability to implement policy frameworks for the country in the Nigerian agricultural sector.
According to one of the participants, Ms. Aisha Farouk, “The training has opened my mind a lot. Being from a Technical Department most of the things discussed I was hearing for the first time e.g. the process of policy formulation, CAADP [Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme], ERGP [Economic Recovery and Growth Plan] etc. It is clear to me now there is much more that I need to know on the FMARD and policies of the FG regarding agriculture. I’m looking forward to other opportunities to participate in future activities. “
The training was part of the capacity building activities of the Feed the Future Nigeria Agricultural Policy Project. The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID/Nigeria) and is jointly implemented by Michigan State University and IFPRI’s Nigeria Strategy Support Program.
