The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, has inaugurated the regional offices and hostels for the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI) in Abuja.
This was disclosed on Saturday in a statement by the Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, in Abuja.
Abubakar said ARMTI will fast-track agricultural techniques, boost production and generate foreign exchange by providing requisite training for stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
He said the Institute will help the Ministry in achieving its mandate to ensure food security in crops, livestock and fisheries, and also stimulate agricultural employment and services.
He added that the facilitators of the Institute will be provided with work space which has the ambiance required to imbue knowledge in the trainees.
The Minister said the Institute has been building fast-growing networks and collaborations with local and international agencies in the area of capacity building in agriculture and rural development.
He added that ARMTI has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with organisations like the Washington State University (WSU) on capacity building in organic agriculture, and commonwealth of learning.
…the Institute will help the Ministry in achieving its mandate to ensure food security in crops, livestock and fisheries, and also stimulate agricultural employment and services.
He also stressed the need to build more mutually benefiting networks and grow with relevant stakeholders in the agricultural and rural management capacity building sub-sector.
He lauded the management of the Institute for capacity development and empowerment of thousands of smallholder farmers as well as other actors along the agricultural commodity value chains.
The Minister also advised the management to ensure regular and consistent maintenance of the facility for its sustainability.
The Executive Director, ARMTI, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, said the development of the RTC of the Institute was done in phases.
“The Abuja RTC was very strategic in the pursuit of the institute’s mandate. Given its location in the heart of FCT and direct connection to the rest of the world, a very good number of our partners and collaborators in the sector prefer Abuja RTC for their programmes,” he said. (NAN)
