The FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr. Olusade Adesola, has said that the food security assessment survey conducted in all the 62 Wards in the territory shows that about 15 per cent of residents are food insecure.
Adesola, represented by Mr. Atang Samuel, the Director, Office of the Permanent Secretary (OPS), made the disclosure at the 8th Regular Meeting of the FCT Council on Agriculture and Rural Development held on Wednesday in Abuja.
The theme of the meeting is: “Evolving Ensuring Strategies toward Commercialisation of Agriculture for Economic Empowerment to Mitigate the effects of COVID-19 Pandemic and Promote Sustainable Food Security.”
Adesola said that the situation was unacceptable considering the fact that the FCT was endowed with rich and vast arable land and water resources that could be harnessed toward improving the livelihood of the citizenry.
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He said the FCT Administration through its relevant agencies and parastatals had continued to implement innovative programmes to address areas of critical needs of smallholder farmers.
He said that the administration was exploring avenues to showcase the viable investment opportunities that exist in the agricultural sector.
Adesola said that the administration through the expertise of it agriculture extension agents, trained over 5,000 farmers on good practices that could enhance the quality and quantity of farm produce.
He said that the efforts of the administration cut across all the spheres of the agricultural sector which include crop farming, livestock management, fisheries, and aquaculture as well as forest conservation.
“I make bold to say that we have made an appreciable impact in all of these areas,” he said.
