The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) to structurally align agricultural research data and overhaul statistics within the farming sector. 

Executed on Monday, 22 June 2026, the inter-agency agreement focuses directly on the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) project, an initiative engineered to radically enhance the generation, validation, and execution of high-quality data metrics for national economic planning.

The newly signed statistical framework addresses a critical gap in Nigeria’s agricultural database management. Speaking at the formal signing ceremony in Abuja, the Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, explained that the partnership will systematically standardise how agricultural research and developmental financing are tracked, measured, and utilised. 

He noted that moving past fragmented documentation toward an integrated national system ensures that state interventions, donor investments, and resource allocations are directed toward the most productive rural corridors.

The technical roadmap establishes a framework for data collection, analytical validation, and standardisation across the sprawling national agricultural research ecosystem. 

Welcoming the baseline initiative, the Executive Secretary of the ARCN, Professor Abubakar Adamu Dabban, commended the NBS for successfully piloting the ASTI metrics. 

He described the Nigerian operational template as an innovative, data-driven model that other sub-Saharan African countries could easily adopt to clean up their own localised agricultural research indices and attract development funding.

The partnership outlines expansive plans for institutional capacity building, enhanced digital dissemination of ASTI findings, and evidence-based advocacy to drive private capital into national research facilities. 

To guarantee seamless policy execution and prevent the agreement from becoming an idle paper project, both institutions have established a permanent Joint Technical Working Committee. 

This specialised team will work directly to integrate ARCN’s extensive research output closer into Nigeria’s overarching national statistical network, providing policymakers with live, verified data to combat food insecurity over time.

Source: Premium Times