NACHCARD To FG: Don’t Lease Our Land To Third Parties

The National Committee of Heads of Colleges of Agriculture and Related Disciplines (NACHCARD), in its 65th Regular Meeting in Abuja, opposed the federal government’s plan to lease lands in their institutions for food production. Instead, they urged the government to provide funds and inputs to the colleges for agriculture training and programs. They expressed concern over declining student intake due to reduced JAMB cutoffs for universities and increasing polytechnics offering agricultural courses, undermining the colleges’ purpose. NACHCARD called for prioritized funding for farming colleges and advocated for the operational commencement of NADFUND to boost food security efforts. Source: DailyTrust

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The National Committee of Heads of Colleges of Agriculture and Related Disciplines (NACHCARD) recently convened in Abuja, opposing the federal government’s plan to lease lands within agricultural colleges for food production. They emphasized the importance of direct funding and input provisions to protect college lands from encroachment and support agricultural education. NACHCARD highlighted the critical role of these institutions in training youth for agribusiness and executing agrarian extension programs to boost food security.
They also called for the prompt inauguration of the NADFUND board and equitable funding allocation to agricultural colleges, addressing their exclusion from TetFund support. The committee urged inter-ministerial dialogue to resolve bureaucratic barriers preventing graduates from accessing employment in government agencies and emphasized the need for harmonized conditions of service across agricultural colleges.