The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in collaboration with the World Bank, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), has launched the National Agricultural Sample Census (NASC) after three decades in Abuja.

It was revealed that there are about 40.2 million agricultural households in Nigeria, of which about 91 per cent of agricultural households practise crop cultivation, 48 per cent practise livestock farming and five per cent engage in fishery.

Speaking at the launch, the Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi said: "Food security and economic growth are the top priority. We are indeed very blessed; and this new data will show us how to eliminate ghost farmers."

He added, "If you cannot measure what you have, you cannot manage it."

He called on members of the National Assembly to serve in the interest of the country by putting "our money where it should rightly be."

On his part, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, said: "Today's event signifies a very big move in our understanding of the structure of the agricultural sector in the country. This data will shed light on how land is currently utilised and the types of crops cultivated, and where they are grown."

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, congratulated the development partners for supporting this report, saying: "We have to come up with a cultural system that will work even in spite of the separation of powers between the three levels of federal and sub-nationals."