CTA Repositions Naqas for Food Security, Poverty Reduction

from All Africa

Daily Trust (Abuja)

By Abdulraheem Aodu
Kaduna

The Nigerian Agricultural Question and Answer Service (NAQAS) is set for repositioning towards poverty reduction, food security and improved agricul-tural productivity in Nigeria.

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation Netherlands (CTA) Programme Coordinator, Mrs. Vivienne Oguya, disclosed this during a NAQAS Stakeholders Workshop held in Zaria, Kaduna State.

She said NAQAS, which has been in existence for seven years under the guidance of the Nigerian Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Service (NAERLS), needs to be repositioned to properly disseminate vital information to the farmers, agric extension workers and other stakeholders for increased productivity, food security and poverty reduction.

Oguya noted that the service has been mainly enjoyed by students and researchers with only about 18 percent usage by farmers. She therefore called on farmers and extension workers to access NAQAS in order to boost agriculture and food security.

"CTA was formed by the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) - European Union (EU). CTA intends to use question and answer to facilitate access to agricultural and rural information in the ACP region by adapting information in the forms of answers to the level of each user and selecting the most appropriate channel to deliver the response.

Nigeria's Ambassador to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg, Mr. Kunle Adeyanju in his remarks noted that information generation and dissemination is needed to achieve poverty reduction, food security and information flow in the ACP region.

"The abject poverty experienced in ACP countries is due to their inability to get it right, low level agricultural management and inadequate infrastructure. Sadly, Africa is the most affected continent. Agriculture contributes to the Gross Domestic Product, but it has not been brought to bear on the people. There is need to cross-fertilize ideas on new science discovery that could help agriculture and rural development", he said.

The Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Professor Shehu Abdullahi, who declared the workshop open, commended the organizers of the workshop and thanked CTA for its support and funding of the project.

Professor Abdullahi, who was represented by Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration Professor Yakubu Nasidi, said: "NAQAS has answered 3420 questions so far received. But its service is lopsided as it is accessed more by students and teachers while the farmers for whom it was established are left out. I hope the farmers here today will make good use of the opportunity provided by this workshop."

The host and director of NAERLS, Dr Mohammed Umaru, traced the history of the NAERLS to 1987 when it was given the mandate as a federal institution to serve the nation. He said QAS has helped the institution to be more effective in the area of information dissemination.