As the plight of Persons With Disabilities continue to generate both local and international attention, interests have continued to swell following the PWD community’s advocacy for inclusion in matters of national development.
One of such interests is coming from the Nigeria Policy Support for Economic Growth (PSEG).
Professor Oyinkan Tasie, the representative of PSEG, who paid a visit to Nigeria and the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, said the purpose of his visit was to seek the support of the Commission to Collaborate with PSEG on integrating Nigeria’s 35 million PWDs in the Agricultural Policy Process.
He said the Nigeria Policy Support for Economic Growth (PSEG) activity implemented by Michigan State University was designed to deliver a program of research, training and institutional capacity strengthening to support an improved enabling environment for inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth in Nigeria.
The Michigan State university, Department of Agricultural, Food and Resources Economics don noted that with a goal to yield long-term sustainable benefits for a broad array of people and organizations in Nigeria, PSEG will implement a series of activities to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Nigeria at federal and state levels, the Private Sector, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in order to implement evidence-based policy formulation and implementation, as well as to strengthen research, and advocacy capacity.
He added that the PWDs are an integral part of their policy formulation, and noted that the purpose will be achieved through three objectives namely: policy formulation and Implementation to improve the policy process of evidence- based decision-making related to food security and inclusive agriculture-led economic growth.
The second, he said will be through policy research to increase the availability and quality of rigorous policy analysis for evidence-based policymaking, including with regard to women’s agricultural productivity, which is also crucial for the first element.
Thirdly, he mentioned policy advocacy to clarify and amplify the voice of private sector actors that include civil society organizations, private associations, academia, and media as an objective in the public policy process.
Prof. Tasie further added that PSEG’s interests in this regard also led PSEG on recent visits to focal states like Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara States.
Signed
Ishaku Kigbu
Head Media & Publicity,
NCPWD
