Agric Ministry adopts NIMC identity system to verify genuine farmers

By Gabriel Ewepu, Abuja

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has announced plans to deploy the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)’s digital identity infrastructure to verify genuine farmers and improve the targeting of government agricultural intervention programmes.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, disclosed this while receiving the Director-General of NIMC, Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, and her delegation at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

According to a statement by the ministry’s Head of Information, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, the collaboration is aimed at leveraging the National Identification Number (NIN) and NIMC’s identity verification platform to build a credible, centralised database of farmers and support the country’s drive towards food security and food sovereignty.

Kyari said the initiative would improve transparency in the implementation of government programmes while boosting the participation of women and youths in agriculture.

“The collaboration will leverage the NIN and NIMC’s identity verification platform to authenticate beneficiaries of government agricultural programmes. This will ensure that interventions are targeted only at genuine farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs,” he said.

The minister also disclosed that the Federal Government had restructured its agricultural subsidy programme to encourage self-reliance rather than long-term dependence on government support.

“It should not be a subsidy that continues indefinitely. Beneficiaries will receive support in the first year, reduced assistance in the second year, and by the third year they should be able to operate independently,” Kyari said.

He explained that the phased approach would enable more farmers to benefit from government interventions while promoting sustainable agricultural production and improved productivity.

Kyari expressed confidence that the partnership with NIMC would ensure grants, farm inputs and other interventions reach genuine beneficiaries, eliminate leakages and strengthen food security.

Speaking earlier, NIMC Director-General, Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, described agriculture as one of Nigeria’s most strategic sectors because of its role in ensuring food security and driving economic growth.

She said the recently enacted NIMC Act 2026 had strengthened the commission’s mandate as the country’s foundational identity authority, enabling it to provide secure identity verification and digital authentication services to ministries, departments and agencies.

According to her, integrating the National Identification Number into agricultural programmes would improve accountability, reduce fraud and eliminate ghost beneficiaries while ensuring that public resources are directed to genuine farmers.

Coker-Odusote added that closer collaboration between NIMC and the Ministry of Agriculture would also advance the Federal Government’s digital transformation agenda by improving public service delivery through trusted identity systems.

She reaffirmed NIMC’s commitment to supporting the ministry with reliable identity verification services to enhance the credibility and effectiveness of government agricultural interventions.