The National Economic Council (NEC) has urged state governments to key into the programmes of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU) in the bid to address the challenges against food security and their underlying causes.

This came as Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the economic seeds sown by the federal government by way of reforms and interventions in 2024 were already beginning to bear fruits.

The Council chaired by the Vice President received presentation from the Technical Assistant to the President on Agriculture (Office of the Vice President), Marion Moon, and coordinator of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU) and charged the Unit to focus more on priorities, especially in agri-business, which would enhance delivery mechanisms and expedite action in the attainments of targets enshrined in the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the various aspirations by the respective state governments.

According to a statement by a Presidential spokesman, Stanley Nkeocha, the Council in it’s resolution “commended the presentation by the coordinator of the unit and urged state governments to key into the initiative,” even as it “requested the unit to prepare key achievements of its unit at the next meeting of the council”.

Earlier, the Vice President who maintained that the government’s policies have begun to yield results urged members of the Council to brace up for the new year, taking into cognizance the extent to which the programmes, projects, and policies executed this year have influenced the course of the nation’s economy.

He said: “Difficult decisions have been taken to redirect the course of our national economy, and the results are beginning to show.”

“The recent report of a 3.46% GDP growth in the third quarter of 2024 is a reassuring sign of the harvests ahead. “This growth reflects not just numbers, but the collective efforts and sacrifices made by all stakeholders in this room.”