Expert Advocates Policy to Improve Agric. Extension Services

An agriculture expert has called on the Federal Government to reform policies toward improving extension services as a key player in transforming agricultural practices in the country.

Mr Ismail Olawale, a fellow at the National Agriculture Extension and Liaison Services (NAERLS), made the call in an interview on Monday in Lagos.

Olawale said that extension services in Nigeria was currently underperforming and would require to revamp of its policies.

He said it has become imperative to revamp agriculture extension services in Nigeria to facilitate better and sustainable practices among farmers and ensure high productivity

“Farmer’s knowledge with regards to improving farming methods is limited, which has resulted in low crop yields.

“The challenge is how to deliver a policy of agricultural extension that is connected with the contemporary concepts of development and sustainability,’’ he said.

He noted that agricultural extension has long been seen as a key element for enabling farmers to obtain information and technologies that can improve their livelihoods.

He added that extension services were also recognised as an important factor in promoting agricultural development.

“The problems of extension services in Nigeria is multifaceted.

“We have issues in capacity building, the ageing of available extension agents, poor funding and less attraction to the job.

“Another basic problem of extension services in Nigeria is that the institutional structure is very weak and most of the extension agents are old and may not be able to render services anymore.

“Also, a lot of these old extension agents have not been exposed to the modern technology of disseminating or packaging information to these farmers,’’ the expert said.

Olawale reiterated the need for relevant authorities to come up with a new policy to improve extension services to local farmers to boost productivity and food security.

“We must restructure our extension services to meet up the level of agricultural challenges we face as a country while boosting food security.’’

According to him, since the Agricultural Development Program (ADPs) are now moribund, it is not easy to get available extension officers to the farmers.

He said that in an attempt to evaluate the impact of agricultural extension, problems faced by officials must be urgently looked into and a possible solution is suggested.