Jigawa State Agricultural Sector Stakeholders met on May 17 & 18 in Dutse to develop action plans to address Insufficient Access to Seeds and Untimely Supply of Inputs and Extension Services in the state. Government officials, farmers/farmer groups, private sector representatives, students, and other citizens groups (including the Dan’Isan Dutse, a traditional leader) gathered at the Manpower Development Institute, Dutse to discuss strategies to improve service delivery. The two-day strategy session, which is supported by the Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), led to the development of a draft action plan in the agricultural sector that will address identified problems/blockages hindering access to quality agricultural inputs and extension services in the state.
By the end of the two-day strategy session, three draft action plans (for Seeds, Extension Services, and Inputs and Mechanization [including the CPP]) were developed by the participants to address problems, causes and effects of ‘inadequate access to quality agricultural inputs and extension services’ as well as identify possible solutions to address challenges.
Group thematic areas that led to the development of action plans include:
Extension services by government;
Extension services through private sector and innovation;
Seed system by government;
Seed system through private sector and innovation;
Watch the Opening Remarks by the Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
Alhaji Gambo Aliyu Ibrahim
Goodwill remarks were made by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Gambo Aliyu Ibrahim; Special Adviser to the Governor on Community and Inclusion; representative of DFID-Propcom Maikarfi, Mr. Godson Ohurugu; and a representative of the Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), Mr. Greg Anyaegbudike.
In his remarks, the Honorable Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Gambo Aliyu Ibrahim stated that the current economic situation has necessitated the need for people to ‘go back to land’. "The cluster farming which Jigawa State has adopted would not have achieved the desired result without adequate farm inputs", he said. The Permanent Secretary also acknowledged the support of PERL in the development of Jigawa State’s Agricultural Policy.
Presentations by Stakeholders
"Propcom Maikarfi works to ensure that farmers have quality inputs, at the right time, and at the right price."
- Mr Godson Ohurugu, Propcom Maikarfi
"The Governor of Jigawa State under the leadership of His Excellency, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar made Agriculture one of its priority in order to promote the economic development of Jigawa State and reduce unemployment."
– Special Adviser to the Governor on Community and Inclusion
The representative of PERL, Mr. Greg Anyaegbudike, reiterated PERL’s satisfaction with the commitment of Stakeholders in Jigawa State Agricultural Sector to find solutions to the problems of Agriculture in Jigawa State. “What we are seeing today is a practical approach which PERL believes in. PERL believes that if government is responsive to citizens, and the citizens and government sit together to talk about a particular problem affecting the citizens, that there would be improvements in the livelihood of citizens”, Greg said.
“ARC is very willing and capable of supporting government to meet the citizens in the farm, and Engaged Citizens are also very willing to support citizens to actually embrace and work strongly with the government so that there will be improved yield and improved livelihood for the people of Jigawa.” – Greg Anyaegbudike
Feedback from participants
"It’s really a great honour being here with you in the field of Agriculture. Though we are agricultural students, we feel encouraged being here with you, we have learnt a lot through all these structures and sectioning. I have learnt more, I have been encouraged. It is all about extending knowledge".
This short video interview with the Director, SERVICOM highlights
PERL's support to Jigawa State
PERL’s work around Service Delivery in Jigawa State
‘The Overview of Service Delivery Work and support by PERL’ was delivered by the Director, Public Service Reform/SERVICOM of the Office of the Head of Civil Service, Yusha’u Mohammed, who outlined four-key points as the objectives of the strategy session:
To strengthen interaction between government and citizens (wider stakeholders involved) in agricultural sector;
To identify blockages and their root causes militating against accessing agricultural input and extension services;
To proffer solutions to the identified blockages;
To develop draft actionable plans to address identified blockages.
“Previously PERL has supported this state to address issues of maternal and child mortality and malnutrition among children - that is in the health sector. PERL also supported the issues around the problem of teacher quality, which has been in progress at the implementation stage. We were supported to develop this kind of strategy session, develop action plans, and implementation plans. Implementation has been carried out currently with the support of PERL”. Download Presentation
Prior to the strategy session on Agriculture, PERL had supported Jigawa State Government to identify problems and bottlenecks hindering effective service delivery in health and education in the state. With PERL playing the role of a facilitator, joint sessions bringing state and non-state actors together were supported. During the sessions, ten service delivery problems were shortlisted and prioritized by the participating stakeholders while three out of them were approved for implementation and immediate resolution by the Jigawa State Executive Council.
The three priority service delivery problems approved by the Executive Council were:
Poor Teacher Quality in the basic and post basic schools;
High levels of Maternal, Infant and Child Mortality; and
Malnutrition among women and children in the state.
To resolve these problems, Technical Working Groups (TWGs) were formed and inaugurated in the education and health sectors with mandates to engage stakeholders to identify the causes of the problems and proffer solutions and actions that would improve the delivery of services to the citizenry.
The Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) is a five-year governance programme, funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). The programme focuses support on governments, citizens, and evidence-based advocacy. PERL provides assistance to governments in the core areas of policy development and implementation. Visit: www.perlnigeria.net
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Disclaimer:
The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department for International Development.
