The Federal Government and its development partners have commenced a training programme for 100 agricultural extension master trainers as part of efforts to accelerate the adoption of improved technologies and reach at least 500,000 farmers across the country.
The week-long training in Dutse, Jigawa State, is designed to strengthen the capacity of extension personnel to deliver innovations from research institutions to farmers.
It is being organised by the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, CGIAR’s Scaling for Impact Programme, Jigawa Agricultural Transformation Agency (JATA), National Agricultural Growth Scheme-Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP) and other research organisations.
The participants are drawn from Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states and include experts from public and private agricultural institutions.
The workshop, with the theme, ‘Empowering Extension to Scale Agricultural Innovations,’ is focused on addressing critical gaps in Nigeria’s agricultural extension system.
Among the challenges identified are inadequate numbers of extension agents, poor funding, limited technical capacity, logistics constraints and inadequate access to digital advisory platforms.
The organisers said the 100 master trainers would, after the training, cascade the knowledge to frontline extension workers and farmer organisations, creating a wider network expected to reach not less than 500,000 farmers.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, JATA Director-General, Dr Saifullahi Umar, said strengthening extension services was essential to closing the gap between agricultural research and farmers.
Umar, who represented the Jigawa State Government, said Nigeria had developed several agricultural technologies capable of transforming food production, but many farmers were yet to benefit because information on the innovations often failed to reach them at the right time.
He identified improved maize hybrids, stress-tolerant rice and wheat varieties, climate information, mechanisation, integrated pest management, irrigation and improved post-harvest technologies as some of the innovations capable of boosting farm productivity.
According to him, effective extension services remain critical to ensuring that farmers understand and adopt such technologies.
Umar said Jigawa had taken steps to strengthen its extension system by recruiting and training 1,700 extension personnel and providing motorcycles to improve their mobility and contact with farmers.
He added that the state was establishing Agricultural Development and Farm Service Centres where farmers would have access to extension advice, agricultural inputs, mechanisation services, market information and financial referrals.
The JATA boss also disclosed that the state had established a farm mechanisation company equipped with 400 tractors, harvesters and other agricultural machinery.
He said 6,000 solar-powered irrigation systems were also being deployed to increase farmers’ access to irrigation and expand dry-season agricultural production.
He stressed that combining extension services with mechanisation, irrigation, improved seeds and market access would be critical to transforming agriculture and improving farmers’ livelihoods.
The training programme covers climate-smart agriculture, soil health, improved seed systems, pest and disease management, digital agriculture, market linkages and farmer-centred extension approaches.
Participants are also being trained in the use of mobile agricultural advisory platforms, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and data tools to improve the delivery of extension services.
Head of the TAAT Clearinghouse, Dr Solomon Gizaw, said a strong extension system was necessary to ensure that agricultural innovations moved beyond research institutions and translated into increased productivity and better livelihoods for farmers.
He said the programme would strengthen the ability of extension professionals to support farmers in adopting technologies suited to their production environments.
The initiative is linked to the African Development Bank’s $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility and Nigeria’s NAGS-AP programme.