By Yemi Olakitan
According to Dr Mohammad Abubakar, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the re-establishment of Agriculture Development Programs, also known as ADPs, is the top priority in order to fulfil the mandate of achieving food security in Nigeria.
This was stated by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development during a workshop that lasted for two days and was put on by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and water resources of Nasarawa State.
The ADPs will be strengthened during the workshop in order to facilitate more efficient agriculture extension service delivery at the grassroots level.
The Minister stated that in order to examine the Agriculture Extension Policy, a Special Committee would be established.
According to him, the committee will make recommendations regarding policies that will ensure the effective participation of all stakeholders with funding for the effective delivery of agriculture extension advisory services.
The revitalization of agriculture extension in Nigeria was the focus of the development of a blueprint, which included recommendations on a variety of funding mechanisms.
According to what Abubakar pointed out, “a provision of institutional structures and arrangements was made for the delivery of effective and efficient pluralistic agriculture extension and advisory services in Nigeria utilising the value chain approach.”
In addition, the Minister strongly suggested that the participant evaluate the current state of the National Agriculture Extension System, particularly with regard to the coordination of activities at the federal level. During his remarks at the workshop, the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, praised the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for having the inspiration to hold the workshop in the first place.
According to Governor Sule, the workshop will expand the scope of frontline extension agents on good agricultural practises and the dissemination of vital information to smallholder farmers for the purpose of providing effective and efficient service.
According to Sule, “As you are all aware, agriculture is the backbone of the Nigerian economy and accounts for the largest percentage of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Additionally, it is the industry that employs the largest number of people.”
“Nigeria is one of the countries that is one of the countries that is endowed with enormous agricultural potentials and arable land that is suitable for the cultivation of food and cash crops.” It is for this reason that an increasing number of Nigerians are becoming involved in some form of agricultural activity or another every day.
Given the ability of agriculture extension agents to assist teeming farmers at the grassroots level in managing the challenges of climate change and technological advancement in the country, the governor stated that it is imperative to state that the importance of extension services in helping smallholder farmers cannot be overemphasised. He said this because it is imperative to state that the importance of extension services in helping smallholder farmers cannot be overemphasised.
“The Agriculture Development Project is a World Bank project that aims to improve agricultural production and reduce rural poverty through the use of a community-based approach. Because of its significance and the associated benefits to socioeconomic development, the government at all levels has continued to advocate for the project as a means of maintaining what was hitherto put in place by the Donor Agencies. This is because of the importance and benefits that the project has associated with socioeconomic development.
“As a result of dependence on oil being the major source of revenue for the nation’s economy, the government is not unaware of the neglect the Agriculture Extension Agents suffered over time,” he explained. “That is why various policies have been put in place to resuscitate and strengthen the ADPs as a parastatal, responsible for transforming the policies of Government into reality to drive the diversification of the economy.” “The government is not unaware of the neglect the Agriculture Extension Agents suffered over time,”
Also speaking was the Honorable Nuhu Oshafu, who is the Commissioner of Agriculture and Water Resources for the state of Nasarawa. He stated that partnering in Agriculture has become expedient in the lives of everyone not because it is the mainstay of the economy but rather because everyone is dependent on all aspects of agriculture for survival.