By: Mayen Etim
KADUNA, North-West, Nigeria –
The Communication Specialist and Head of the Policy Communications Unit, International Food Policy Research Institute, (IFPRI), Ms Elizabeth Douglas has tasked Journalists on effective reportage of agricultural activities in the country.
She gave the charge at the opening of a two-day training on agricultural Policy Communications for Journalists in Kaduna on Monday, May 13, 2019.
According to her, the training is part of activities of Feed the Future Nigeria Agricultural Policy Project, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID/Nigeria) and jointly implemented by the Michigan State University and IFPRI-NSSP.
She said that the goal of Feed the Future Nigeria Agricultural Policy Project is to promote inclusive agricultural productivity growth, improved nutritional outcomes, and enhanced livelihood resilience for men and women through an improved policy enabling environment.
The IFPRI Communications Specialist further explained the objectives of the program to includes: strengthen the national capacity for greater evidence based policy processes in agriculture y increasing the capacity of Nigerian analysts to undertake and make widely available relevant evidence-based policy analysis.
She added that the program is to promote and foster informed policy dialogue among all stakeholders in the agricultural sector through an inclusive, transparent, and sustainable process at the country level, building block for a well-integrated and developed national policy system.
“To support Federal and State government efforts to improve their capacities to plan and implement effective policy analyses and programs, and demand and absorbed policy research in their policy process, ” she said.
Speaking further Ms Douglas said communication has been a vital tools in human development because it report all activities.
She therefore tasked journalists to use the best communication means so that they can get feedback.