CISLAC-Awareness of AFCFTA for Agric St Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) is a non-governmental, non-profit, advocacy, information sharing, research, and capacity building organisation. Its mission is to strengthen the link between civil society and the legislature through advocacy andcapacity building for civil society groups and policy makers on legislative processes and governance issues. CISLAC was integrated as a corporate body (CAC/IT/NO22738) with the Nigeria#s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on the 28th December 2006. Prior to this incorporation, however, CISLAC had actively been engaged in legislative advocacy work since 2005. The organisation is also compliantwith the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2007. The Organisation reports to SCUML, any transaction that is above One thousand dollars, detailing the payee, purpose and the other KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements. This is done on a weekly or monthly basis depending on the volume of transactions and to ensure appropriate compliance with anti-money laundering laws. NPC Certified CISLAC is registered organisation under the National Planning Commission.
ECOSOC Status In recognition of its broad perspective the CISLAC was granted an ECOSOC status by the United
Nations in 2011 giving it the mandate and the instrumentality of the UN. EFCC Anti-Money Laundary Compliance
CISLAC is duly registered in accordance with the provisions of Section 5(1) (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). CISLAC/TI Partnership CISLAC is the National Chapter of Transparency International (TI). Also, CISLAC is registered organisation under the National Planning Commission. As indicated above, the organisationemerged from the need to address the gaps in legislative advocacywork of civil society and government access to civil society groups. CISLAC#s engagement with Federal Ministries, National and State Assemblies, Local Government Administrations, private sector interests, and non-government organisations, has opened a window through which the public and policy officials can interact and collaborate.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Cashew industry and production 2020 is plagued by insecurity particularly in the Fadama areas and limited financing to achieve commercial scale.
It is thus imperative for the government to formulate and implement appropriate policies and programs that will enhance the entire value chain of the crop while collaborating with farmers to ameliorate the challenges through the farming cycle.
Objective
The overall objective of this intervention is to revitalize the agricultural sector by advocating for effective implementation of policies and strategies targeted at small holder farmers’ socio-economic stability.
Specific emphasis will be on these themes - traditional farmers in rural areas; creation of enabling conditions for private sector participation; human capacity development; removal of constraints to efficient agricultural production and marketing; soil fertility issues; poor water management; inadequate infrastructure; pests and diseases.
The expected outcomes will include:
● Strengthened citizen-government advocacy and local engagement towards improved export value addition to small-holder farming of cashew, sesame seedsandyams in target states.
● Harnessed export-potential of cashew, sesame seeds and yams by improving the enabling environment for value chain optimization.
● Small holder farmers are exposed to utilize the numerous opportunities to attain competitive prowess globally.
● Improved regulations around processing value chain, security landscape, access to farm input support services as well as local and foreign markets, particularly for small-holder farmers.
The specific objectives include:
1. To promote favorable policies within regional, national and sub-national agricultural investment regimes that support agricultural production of cashew, sesame seedsand yams in target states for domestic consumption and exportation. (Legislative pathway)
2. To improve regulatory regimes and protocols to promote an enabling environment to ease doing business for small-scale farmers in agriculture. (Executive pathway)
3. To establish a broad constituency of stakeholders advocating for an enabling environment to ease doing business for small-scale farmers in agriculture within three levels of engagement- sub-national, national and regional levels.
Strategies
● Engagement of the existingregional structures and instruments (Advocacy)
● Public and private sector dialogue
● Media and citizens engagement (Awareness and education)
Target Stakeholders
NEPC, Chambers of Commerce, NESG, NASSBER, National Assembly Joint Committee on Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,State Houses of Assembly in target states, ECOWAS Secretariat, WATAF, FIRS, Lower River Basin Development Authorities, National Agricultural and Land Development Authority (NALDA); and the Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI), Small-holder farmers, Agricultural microcredit issuance houses, media.
TargetProject states
Project states will be based on the dominant “agriculture states” as they pertain to the above listed crops and the states where they grow (Jigawa, Benue, Lagos and Abuja).

Communication and visibility plan:
We have a Social Media Team and intend to use our existing platforms to promote the programme and outcome.

⮚ Media Chats: With support from our local partners, project team and participants will have opportunities to promote the project on radio and TV. Currently, our member organizations enjoy support from some media organizations, and we intend to continue the relationship and get more media organizations
⮚ Social Media Platforms: Currently, we have avery active audience and good social media presence which can help create more awareness for the project. We also belong to youth groups and online groups that have an active youth population that can be explored.
⮚ Mailing Lists: through our networks and partners’ mailing lists, we will be able to reach more youth and stakeholders with updates and resources from the project.
⮚ Partners’ Events: Through participation in partners’ events, we will have more opportunity to share the project deliverablesjustas we are currently doing. We will participate in exhibitions, panels and other activities needed to educate the citizens on the issue.