As the plight of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) continues to generate local and international attention, interests have continued to swell following the PWDs’ community’s advocacy for inclusion in matters of national development.
One such interest comes 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 (NCPWD), said the purpose of his visit was to seek the commission’s support for collaborating 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 programme 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 to yield long-term sustainable benefits for a broad array of people and organisations in Nigeria, PSEG will implement a series of activities to strengthen the capacity of the government of Nigeria at the federal and state levels, the private sector, and civil society organisations (CSOs) 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: policy formulation and implementation to improve the policy process of evidence-based decision-making related to food security and inclusive agriculture-led economic growth.
He said the second would 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, including civil society organisations, private associations, academia, and the media, as an objective in the public policy process.
Prof. Tasie added that PSEG’s interests also led PSEG on recent visits to focal states like Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara states.
