Dearth of extension agents has been identified as one of the major factors posing challenge to the country’s agric sector.

According to industry players, the extension agents, who were charged with the responsibility of providing information on best agronomic practices, new technological innovations and techniques to boost the productivity of farmers, have practically disappeared from the agric chain.
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The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) recommends 400 farmers to every extension agent, that is, 1:400, however, in Nigeria, the ratio of farmers to extension agents is high, ranging from 1:5,000, sometimes, 1:10,000.

This means that for every 5,000 to 10,000 farmers, there is only one extension agent to provide guidance and support, which stakeholders say, is a big challenge for farmers.

An Imo State-based farmer, Mr. Obioha Nwosu, who rued the development, said the primary assignments of extension workers is not in the city, but rural areas where majority of farmers are located.

“For example, in the East, I noticed that during my childhood days, extension workers were seen in the village carrying out their duties, but now, the story has changed. I practice my farming activities in the village and I have never come across them. People in the rural areas do not even know who extension workers are because they have not been functioning.

“Some of the extension agents who seem to be functioning are communicating to farmers through the media, despite the fact that most farmers in the village do not have Televisions or radios, so how then do you expect them to get the information? Apart from this, most people who majored in agricultural extension want to work in the city, nobody wants to work in the village,” he said.

Nwosu also indicted government for the untoward development, noting that the endemic corruption in the country has gravely affected their impacts, as inputs and other interventions are mostly diverted to richer farmers who are based in Lagos and other parts of the country.

“Their supervisors are not also monitoring their activities. On the other hand, government is not providing an enabling environment for them to carry out their job effectively, imagine if the government provides a good road network where they can transport themselves safely to the rural areas to and fro, and if they are being paid handsomely, they will have no reason not to do their jobs effectively.

“Till now, in the rural area, some farmers are still practicing crude farming, they don’t know anything about mechanised farming and this is what the extension workers are supposed to be educating us, but thank God for the social media, where educated farmers easily access information that will help them grow their seedlings.

“For example, I was in training sometime ago, and someone was teaching us how to use charcoal and dongoyaro water to grow seedlings, if this is what the extension workers are teaching us, I will have no reason to attend any training or lectures. This will also save me transport fare, but reverse is the case.”
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Another farmer based in Ogun State, Mr. Abah Michael, added that most of the information about distribution of palliative by government or grants were actually true but they do not get to the real farmers.

“In the early 1990s, extension workers were still doing their jobs, but now, they are nowhere to be found. This is because government is not holding anybody accountable. Government is being lackadaisical. You can imagine the Chinese carrying our cassava seeds to their country to introduce to their people because they see how productive Nigeria is,” he said.

He concluded that if our research institutes were working and extension workers doing their jobs effectively, there would be improved yield in the country’s agricultural products. Michael asked, “Why are we not having foreign plants and their hybrids in our country? Why do we still have to import apple, why can’t we also plant China rice in Nigeria?”
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