By: Valentine Adese (JP),
German Agency for International Development (GIZ) has formally handed over the draft of the Plateau State Agricultural Policy to the State Ministry of Agriculture.
Receiving the draft, the Commissioner of the Ministry, Hon. Dr. F. Hosea, expressed happiness saying it is from the bottom of his heart.
In his remarks while expressing his joy over the draft Policy, Dr. Hosea, thanked God and then, the state Governor, Simon Bako Lalong, for making the achievement possible.
He also appreciated GIZ and other staff of the Ministry for putting all hands on desk to see to the success.
Dr. Hosea however, disclosed that he has been worried over the non-availability of a working document or guideline for the Ministry, since he assumed office at the state secretariat.
“I therefore promised to formulate ours for the Ministry and make it spread like the spring water in order to attract more investors to the state.
“With this document, I can now meet those, who have been calling to ask for the state’s Agricultural Policy. The Sky is now the base for the Ministry and all of us”. Dr. Hosea said.
Adding that, “You will agree with me that the Governor has constantly prioritized Agriculture in the state and has been unveiling series of plans to achieve that.
“I am sure that, the Governor will be very glad that we have finally completed this phase.
“I shall submit this draft to the State Executive Council and may be further present it to the Plateau State House of Assembly (PLHA), for it to become a working document.
“We at the Ministry, believe this document will be a business plan for Agriculture in the state”.
Earlier, while presenting the draft today, at the Mini Conference Hall, Planning Department (MARD), to the Commissioner, Hauwa Mankilik on behalf of GIZ, said, “We engaged in this project to support the Plateau State Government, to see how SMEs in the state can increase their income and create employment opportunities.
“As you know, Agriculture is one of the best sectors for us in the state because we have all the strong comparative advantages. So, it is therefore necessary to see how we can develop the sector.
“For the sector to be fully developed there must be a Policy or guideline on how the advantages can be harnessed.
“For GIZ we saw it as important to support the Ministry and the State, to see how this document would help put things in place.
“I have heard the Commissioner mentioned severally in several fora that, it is necessary for the Policy document to be in place.
“So, we want to say thank you Mr. Commissioner, for enabling this process and this includes the Permanent Secretary and all of us seated here.
‘We have actually engaged several times to see that, this Policy is in place. However, it is not enough that we have a draft copy. This is just a start of the journey! We have just finished the first phase and we have a lot of jobs ahead.
“We will not want to keep this document in the shelf. We must see to it that, it is working, and for it to work, we have to implement it, which means the Perm Sec cannot go to sleep, as I shall always be at his place”.
On his part, the Focal-man for the project and Chief Consultant, Prof. Paul Amaza explained that, the document just completed, has been an accumulation of lots of processes since the past one year, with the huge challenge of lack of adequate data.
While congratulating the Governor, Simon Bako Lalong, the Commissioner, GIZ, the staff of the Ministry and the people of Plateau State, Prof. Paul disclosed that, the document focuses on Crops, elimination of Policy conflicts, value addition and the value chain.
He said to reach this stage, four drafts were made before the present one which is been formally handed over.
He further disclosed that the document has recommended to the State that, at least 10% of the State Budget should constantly be allocated to Agriculture and that the sector should be private sector driven among other recommendations.
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