ZARIA — The Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), convened an orientation and training session at the headquarters of the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), Zaria.
The engagement marks Cycle 3 of the National Agribusiness Policy Mechanism (NAPM) and focused specifically on strengthening a shared understanding of the minor season, an often under-analyzed production window within Nigeria’s agricultural calendar.
State Focal Persons from the 13 pilot states participated in the session to align on what constitutes the minor season, why it is important, and how to accurately capture farmer intentions ahead of the 2026 Farmers’ Intention Survey.
The orientation reinforced a central principle of the NAPM process: planning must follow credible data. Before national decisions are made, government must first understand how farmers are utilizing seasonal windows and what producers themselves are signaling at the field level.
Dr. Tunji Iyiola-Tunji, Assistant Director (Research, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation) at NAERLS, emphasized this point:
“When NAPM findings suggested that farmers were not prioritizing rice planting in the 2026 dry season, we were sure of this information because the farmers themselves told us. It reflects what producers themselves are signaling.”
By strengthening seasonal intelligence through Cycle 3, government is laying the groundwork for informed, data-driven agricultural planning under the Renewed Hope Agenda. The process reflects a deliberate shift toward evidence before intervention, ensuring that policy follows verified farmer realities.
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