FAO pledges more support to improve data management systems as Nigeria marks African Statistics Day
Abuja - Nigeria joined the rest of African nations to mark the African Statistics Day. A special national conference of Nigerian statisticians to mark the day was held in Abuja, organized by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The Minister of State, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Hon. Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, presided over the official opening.
In his opening address, Hon. Agba elucidated the importance of statistics in the context of this year’s theme – ‘Modernizing National Statistical Systems to Support Socialcultural Development in Africa.’
“This is an important occasion to reflect on the production and use of statistics in Nigeria,” he said adding: “The theme was chosen in order to raise awareness on the part of decision markers, technical and financial partners, data producers, researchers and the general public about the critical importance of disintegrated statistics.”
Hon. Agba said that there was a need to produce high quality statistics for Africa’s Regional Agenda 2063 – the Africa we want.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria is devoted to raising awareness of credible statistical production process and the use of evidenced-based policy formulation,” he disclosed.
The honourable Minister said that it was good to see that NBS and other data producing agencies were putting in place necessary infrastructure in an effort to modernise the national statistics system.
“This is an effort to facilitate the production of basic statistical information capable of meeting the expectations of the nation. The government will continue to support such effort with necessary financial and human resources in order to realise that goal,” he explained.
In his goodwill message, the Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Nigeria, Fred Kafeero, noted that this year’s annual celebration was a reminder of the essential functions that statistics and development information systems play in Africa's economic and sociocultural evolution.
“This is an occasion for showing the major role statistics play in shaping almost every aspect of human life including providing clear, objective, and numerical evidence of what is happening in the world around us,” he noted.
According to him, the United Nations (UN) places the highest importance on data and statistics generally, especially when it comes to the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implementation.
He commended the Federal Government of Nigeria through its several agencies including NBS for extending its commitment and collaboration to FAO in the implementation of series of projects geared towards supporting the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen its data and statistical systems.
FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) - ‘Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Improved Data and Information Systems for Policy Planning and Tracking the SDGs in Nigeria’ is one of such projects launched as its contribution to the Government of Nigeria’s (GoN).
Besides, FAO supports technology transfer and capacity building in data, information and performance management, all of which are urgently needed so as to support both the SDGs implementation and monitoring agenda.
Furthermore, FAO is supporting Nigeria with another initiative titled Hand-in-Hand initiative meant to accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development to eradicate poverty (SDG-1) and end hunger and all forms of malnutrition (SDG-2).
This initiative uses geo-spatial data for modelling and analysis in order to facilitate ‘matchmaking’ - between donors and recipients to support tailor-made, targeted efforts to assist vulnerable people in the world's Least Developed Countries (LDCs), as well as those affected by food crises.
The Hand-in-Hand initiative uses sophisticated tools including digital technology for supporting stakeholders with rich, shareable data such as agroecology, water, land, soils, among others.
“The Global Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (GSARS) is yet another of the FAO supported projects for addressing the relative decline in the agricultural statistical systems of many developing countries,” Mr. Kafeero said.
It is aimed at providing a framework that enables developing countries to produce more and better agricultural statistics. Under this strategy, six (6) technical packages have already been offered by FAO for implementation in Nigeria for the period of 2021-2023.
“We are therefore confident that through the multiplier effect, these projects will not only benefit the focal ministries and agencies involved in their implementation, but could also serve the interest of wider stakeholders, other data users in the country,” he concluded.
For more details Comtact:
Emmanuel Kihaule David Tsokar Opeyemi Olagunju
Communications Specialist Communications Specialist Communications/Reporting Officer
FAO Nigeria FAO Nigeria FAO Nigeria – North East Sub Office