The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) launched a farmer registry designed to link farmers to farmlands and facilitate targeted government support.
This National Identity Number (NIN)-backed registry was developed in collaboration with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), according to a joint statement by Joel Oruche, director of information at FMAFS, and Kayode Adegoke, head of corporate communications at NIMC.
Enhancing Agricultural Services
The registry is part of President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda, prioritising food security by improving transparency and efficiency in the delivery of agricultural services.
The FMAFS aims to leverage NIN-linked biometric data to create a comprehensive database of farmers, detailing their farmland size, type of crops, and livestock.
Innovative G2P Card System
The NIN-backed registry will connect to the Government-to-People (G2P) card, an innovative biometric card system allowing farmers to access targeted government aid.
“The G2P card ecosystem is an initiative that allows for the issuance of NIN-enabled cards by Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), enabling the use of the card’s frontend by these MDAs for their respective programmes,” the statement read.
The biometric card features multiple wallets that provide verifiable identification and can process transactions without internet connectivity, ensuring support for beneficiaries in remote locations.
The card, unique to each citizen, can be obtained by every Nigerian and legal resident, whether banked or unbanked.
Minimising Risks and Enhancing Services
With the G2P card, FMAFS can uniquely identify farmers, deliver agricultural services securely, minimise risks and fraud, and achieve comprehensive visibility across the agriculture value chain.
The card will support financing, distribution of inputs, farmland mapping linked to identity, monitoring and evaluation of extension services, agency banking, and various third-party services.
Collaboration and Implementation
The NIMC will provide the foundational identity ecosystem required for the project, while FMAFS will oversee the farmer registry and administer the G2P cards at national and sub-national levels.
“The G2P card has a large capacity in-card chip that stores beneficiary identity, KYC, picture, and fingerprints,” the statement added.
The G2P biometric cards are processed through a biometrics Point of Sale (POS) acceptance device, which requires biometrics to access and operate.
This technological approach allows the Ministry to deliver services and programmes in any location, regardless of infrastructure challenges.
The card will function as a digital wallet/prepaid card for government transactions such as subsidies, loans, welfare disbursement, pensions, and other activities carried out by FMAFS.
NIMC’s role is to provide the ecosystem with foundational biometric identity in the NIN, ensuring that the card and its benefits are securely and accurately linked to the beneficiary. FMAFS retains their statutory rights and ownership of data generated.
Efficiency and Effectiveness
The G2P ecosystem enables the Ministry to independently manage its programmes and present key performance data through digital dashboards, providing insights into the efficiency and effectiveness of each initiative.
FG Announces Free Cesarean Sections
Legit.ng reported that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s led federal government has announced that Cesarean Sections will now be free for all Nigerian women who need them.