By Grace Samuel
After stakeholders in the agriculture sector has spoken out over insufficient agricultural sector extension workers in Gombe State, the state government has yielded to their appeal and hired 500 extension workers to render extension services to farmers across the state.
Before the government intervention, stakeholders in the agriculture sector in the state had earlier raised alarm over the acute shortage of agricultural extension workers in the state, which they say is threatening food security.
The stakeholders, include the Hope Foundation For the Lonely (HFL), Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON), and the Gombe State House of Assembly, made their submissions during the dissemination of a community scorecard on smallholder women farmers’ access to extension services in the state.
Related Posts
NatureNews can report that before government intervention, throughout the entire Gombe State, only 50 extension workers, four female and 46 male are currently working as extension workers.
That time, the stakeholders appealed to the state government to assist farmers by recruiting more extension workers to mitigate the effects of food.
They claimed the shortage of extension workers has directly affected the quality of farming activities and food productivity in the state, with many smallholder women farmers lacking access to government extension services.
The stakeholders warned that if the state continues with that few number of extension workers, efforts to improve on food production in the state will be a tall dream.
Meanwhile, the stakeholders are asking for more. They urged the government to implement the recruitment process quickly to address the manpower gap.
