A key objective of its work is
to ensure that the activities of the Ministry as a whole lead to the
fulfillment of the following role:
·
initiating,
formulating, reviewing and coordinating policies in the Agricultural Sector;
- planning, developing, monitoring and
coordinating plans, projects and
programmes, strategies and investments in the Agricultural Sector;
- maintaining a comprehensive and up to date
database on the Agricultural Sector;
- developing
policy guidelines for the transformation of subsistence agriculture into
profitable commercial agriculture through the successful adoption and
implementation of the extant Agenda for the sector;
·
analyzing
the productivity and socio-economic conditions affecting on-farm and
agro-industry operations.
- developing
guidelines and recommendations for improved on-farm and
agro-industry operations;
- facilitating strategies and implementation
plans for national food security and monitoring their implementation, in
close liaison with the respective technical departments of FMARD;
- defining strategic priorities for the
agricultural sector;
- formulating development strategies, plans
and programmes in the agricultural sector;
- providing guidelines for the preparation of
annual sector and district plans;
- coordinating and integrating the National
Agriculture Agenda and strategy
into FMA&RD departmental plans
- identifying and preparing sub-sector
investment programmes in collaboration with the Agricultural Business
Investment and Infrastructure Value Chains.
- coordinating and harmonizing stakeholders'
strategies into the National Agriculture Agenda and sector strategy;
- coordinating the preparation of the sector’s
budget framework paper; and
- harmonizing national agriculture sector
strategies with regional and international strategies.
3.2.0 PPC STRUCTURE AND
UNITS FUNCTIONS
The Department
consists of four [4] Divisions, namely:
a. Collaboration
and Partnership [C&P]
b. Monitoring
and Evaluation [M&E]
c. Planning,
Policy and Programmes [PP&P]
d. Research, Statistics, and Communications
Services [RS/CS]
The functions
and aforementioned PPC Divisions are as follows:-
3.2.1 a.
Collaboration and Partnership Division
·
Handles Bi-lateral and Multilateral Relations
between Nigeria and foreign countries on the agricultural sector matters.
·
Responsible for Joint Commission meetings between
Nigeria and other friendly Foreign Countries.
·
Responsible for Inter-Ministerial Meetings on
Bi-lateral/Multilateral Agricultural
Relations with the relevant MDAs, Development Partners, Organized Private
Sector and Non-Governmental Organizations.
·
Facilitates the update of investment opportunities
in Nigerian Agriculture and Hand Book on Agribusiness and Rural Development.
·
Participates at Meetings, Workshop and Conferences
on Multilateral and Bilateral Relations.
·
Coordinates the Annual World Food Day Celebration.
·
Organizes Quarterly Baseline Survey of
Agricultural and Rural Development Projects bordering Nigeria and neighbouring
countries.
·
Coordinates Trade and Investment Promotion
activities and agricultural commodities
·
Facilitates Nigeria’s Membership contributions to international
organizations
·
In-charge of ECOWAS/CAADP matters.
·
Responsible for meetings on Economic Partnership
Agreement (EPA)
3.2.2 b. Monitoring and Evaluation
Division
o
Constant Monitoring & Evaluation of
Agricultural Programmes / Projects undertaken by all Departments and Agencies
of the Ministry including its Research Institutes and Colleges.
o
Collaborative Monitoring with relevant Agencies
including the BOF, OSGF, NASS, NEIC, NPC and OAGF.
o Coordination
of the Quarterly Meetings of the Minister with Heads of FMARD Regional/State
Offices.
o
Reporting and publication of Monitoring and
Evaluation activities through special reports derived from monitoring exercise.
o Publication
of Food Intelligence Brochures.
o
Early Warning System/Market Information System
including collection, analysis and processing of market prices of
agro-commodities.
o
Monitoring & Evaluation of the activities of
the Commodity Value Chains and those of Agricultural Value Chain Support
initiatives.
o
Budget Tracking- Providing reports on the
performance of projects/ Programme based on Budget releases.
o
Development of Value Chain Budget & Annual
Tracker, Development of Performance Contract of Departments/Agencies and
Secretariat to Forthnight Budget Performance Meeting of the Ministry.
o
Collaboration with relevant MDAs to conduct and
supervise Capacity Building Training on National M&E System in the
Ministry.
3.2.3 c.
Planning, Policy and Programmes Division
§ Secretariat to
the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development;
§ Secretariat to
the National Agricultural Development Planning Committee to coordinate the
respective Sectoral Development Committee of line Departments, Agencies and
Parastatals as a prelude to NCARD Meetings;
§ Preparation of
the Ministry’s Progress Reports;
§ Organization and
coordination of the Ministerial Retreat
§ Organization
and coordination of Capacity Building Training programmes in collaboration with
Development Partners such as FAO, UNDP on Policy Analysis that relate to the
Agricultural sector.
§ Secretariat of
the fortnightly meetings of HMA with Directors and Heads of Agencies on the
implementation of the Ministry’s Policies, Projects and Programmes;
§ Facilitation of
Council Memoranda to the Cabinet Office;
§ Facilitation of
Speeches, Addresses and other Position
Papers on Policy Matters of the Ministry;
§ Analysis of
Federal Government’s Policies as they affect the Agriculture and Rural Development Sector;
§ Liaison with
relevant organizations on issues of fiscal policies and incentives, the Federal
Government Transformation Agenda and the Millennium Development Goals;
§ Membership of
the Joint Planning Board and International Development Planning Board;
§ Coordination of
the preparation of Handing Over Notes of the Honourable Minister and Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry;
§ Harmonization
of National Agriculture sector strategies with acceptable Regional and
International strategies; and
§ Collection,
collation and analysis of information on the implementation of policies,
programmes and projects of the Ministry.
3.2.4 d. Research, Statistics and Communications
Services Division
Ø Research into the internal organization and
operational modalities of the Ministry to produce a defined organization of the
Ministry and a clear job description of officers/staff of the Ministry.
Ø Research into the sectors over which the
Ministry has jurisdiction to assess the socio-economic impact of Agricultural
policy on the Nigerian populace.
Ø Secretariat to the Ministerial Codex
Committee via an evidence-based research and policy formulation process.
Ø Collaboration with national and
international bodies on matters relating to agricultural statistics.
Ø Compilation and management of data on
domestic and international trade on commodities, inputs and products in the
agricultural sector.
Ø Coordination of
matters relating to
ICT and Databank Unit as regards the
installation, operation and maintenance of the Ministry’s computer hardware and software, Local –
Metropolitan – Wide Area Networks and
Website.
Ø Secretariat of the ICT Management
Committee, Supervision and co-ordination of ICT Manpower training, and
Facilitation of data entry, collation and coding.
Ø Collection of
materials, collation and organization, preservation and dissemination of
relevant library information for users within and outside the Ministry.
3.4.0 PPC CHALLENGES
The PPC Department is
facing the following challenges:-
-
Poor funding of the Department’s activities due to
inadequate
allocation and late release of funds;
-
Lack of
office space and the need to secure more offices for PRSD.
-
No
project vehicles for data gathering and monitoring exercises.
-
Lack of
ICT materials – ipad, laptop and cameras, to capture M&E field activities.
-
Understaffing and low capability of staff and
therefore, the need to increase the number of staff and improve their capacity
in the Department
-
Lack of necessary synergy between the Division and
some Special Advisers to Honourable Minister leading to some of them carrying
out the functions of the Division without consultations.
-
Annexation of PPC functions by the other
Departments in which, professional Departments often encroach on the duties and
functions of the Department, in spite of clear-cut mandates of each Department.
3.5.0 CONCLUSION
The Planning & Policy Coordination Department is a
strategic arm of every Ministry as it deploys the principles and realities of
economic variables to mainstream agricultural sectoral policies into national
and international development imperatives to meet the expectations of the
Nigerian populace.
Indeed, statistical data/information is a fundamental
requirement for the conduct of evidence-based research and the assessment of
policy options for the effective planning, formulation, review and
implementation of policies, programmes and projects in the country. A medium for applying policy analysis process
is the ATA that focuses on commodity value chain, entrepreneurship and
public-private-partnership, in harnessing resources and facilitating inputs,
credit, insurance, infrastructure and market as incentives to promoting
agribusiness in Nigeria.
Certainly, the much desired efficient service delivery
in the PPC Department would require a continuous commitment to human resource
development, intra- and inter- departmental synergy, beneficial stakeholders’
partnership, adequate funds’ provision and judicious resource utilization.
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