As part of efforts to improve financial management practices in IFAD-funded operations, the International Fund For Agricultural Development, (IFAD) has commenced a 3-day workshop training on financial management.
The Financial Management Division (FMD) is responsible to ensure best financial management practices in IFAD-funded operations through FM policies & procedures, project supervision, corporate initiatives, quality assurance as well as helping to strengthen the regional teams at the national level.
The primary goal of this workshop training is to discuss and reinforce the capacity of stakeholders regarding significant FMD reforms – principally Interim Financial Reports (IFR).
Declaring the workshop open on Tuesday in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) Dr Ernest Umakhihe commended IFAD for its continuous support and partnership with the government of Nigeria and by extension the West Anglophone and Central African states in advancing the agricultural sector in Nigeria and Africa.
He said the agricultural sector has lots of objectives and to achieve these objectives, “we need to ensure that we have efficient and effective finance management systems in place. Finance management is not only about accounting and reporting, but also about planning, budgeting, monitoring, evaluating, and learning. Finance management is essential for ensuring transparency, accountability, and value for money in our agricultural programs and projects.
“I believe that by improving our finance management capacities, we will be able to deliver better results and impacts for our farmers and rural communities. We will also be able to strengthen our partnership with IFAD and other donors and stakeholders who support our agricultural development agenda.”
On her part, the Country Director, IFAD,Ms Dede Ekoue, said the contribution of IFAD to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals depends primarily on the successful implementation of IFAD-funded projects and programs. Indeed, three-quarters of the global population living below the extreme poverty and food insecurity threshold resides in rural areas.
“The Financial Services Management Division(FMD) regularly organizes training and exchange sessions (face-to-face and remote) with the project fiduciary teams in order to provide effective and sustainable support for the financed projects and thereby improve the living conditions of the aforementioned individuals. This is the context within which this training workshop is being organized.
“She added that the workshop’s objectives are noble if we are to fulfill our mandate while ensuring value for money that improves the quality and standard of living and livelihoods of the most vulnerable communities and smallholder farmers. To improve the quality of financial management of IFAD-funded projects and programs, it is crucial to find methods to strengthen the capacities of stakeholders.”
Furthermore, the Director Financial Management Division, IFAD, Ms Ruth Farrant noted that the workshop objective, aims to be a practical workshop where financial reforms would be discussed and more of natural systems would be used.
She said “. We have very high risk ratings in most of the countries and what we want to do is work with you on action plans to bring those risk ratings down and to mitigate those risks to ensure that we have lower risk ratings in the future.”