The Federal Government of Nigeria and its non-governmental organisation partners have inaugurated a dashboard to provide farmers and stakeholders in Nigeria with data on fertiliser pricing, consumption and production, among others.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ernest Umakhihe, who inaugurated the facility in Abuja, said the ‘Visualising Insight on Fertiliser for African Agriculture Nigeria Dashboard’ was developed to make fertiliser data accessible to stakeholders in Nigeria.

Other partners of the Federal Government in the development of the dashboard include Development Gateway, a technological international NGO, and International Fertiliser Development Agency, among others.

In his address at the event, Umakhihe said, “In the ministry’s policies for agriculture, the importance of understanding the accurate quantity of fertiliser consumed and what is expected to be consumed in Nigeria has always been emphasised.

His words, “To facilitate swift data collection, the ministry has established the Fertiliser Inspectorate Unit, which in addition to working as foot soldiers in the implementation of the Fertiliser Act and regulations at the state level, will be collecting fertiliser data. “This effort has been boosted with the coming of the VIFAA Nigeria Dashboard, which can harness and analyse data from different sources aside from the ministry.”

According to the permanent secretary, Nigeria presently needs accurate, adequate and timely fertiliser information to help farmers, decision-makers and other stakeholders in the planning and