Get Guardian on GoogleThe National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) has inaugurated 1,884 digital extension officers to bridge the knowledge gap in the agricultural sector and accelerate the adoption of improved technologies among farmers.
The initiative, known as the Grassroots Digital Extension Corps (GDEC), is designed to strengthen agricultural extension services by connecting farmers, particularly those in rural communities, with improved farming practices, emerging technologies and climate-smart solutions.
Speaking at the national launch of the initiative yesterday in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of NADF Mohammed Ibrahim said the initiative developed in partnership with the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension (FDAE) and other stakeholders is focused on people, tools and data.
According to him about 1,110 agricultural extension agents and 774 food security specialists had been trained across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to provide practical advisory services to farmers.
Ibrahim said the initiative would also generate field-level data to enable government and other stakeholders to understand farmers’ needs and develop more responsive, evidence-based interventions.
He maintained that the success of the programme would be measured not by the number of personnel trained or digital tools distributed, but by the number of farmers reached, adoption of improved practices and increased agricultural productivity.
The NADF ES however called on states to ensure effective deployment of the officers, continuous capacity development and performance monitoring to guarantee the sustainability of the initiative.
He also charged the beneficiaries to demonstrate professionalism and dedication by engaging farmers, understanding their challenges and providing the technical support needed to improve their livelihoods.
The fund called on partners and stakeholders to sustain their commitment to ensuring that the initiative translates into improved productivity and better livelihoods for Nigerian farmers.
The Minister of State Agriculture Sen Sabi Abdullahi while launching the initiative commended NADF, saying the initiative was critical to addressing Nigeria’s poor agricultural yields and unlocking the sector’s estimated $300 billion economic potential.
He said agriculture currently contributed about 26 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employed over 70 per cent of the population across different segments of the value chain.
However, he lamented that the sector contributed only about $1 billion to the country’s foreign exchange earnings, despite its enormous potential to generate significantly higher revenue through improved productivity, processing and exports.
Abdullahi said agriculture could contribute as much as 30 per cent to President Bola Tinubu’s $1 trillion economy vision, translating to approximately $300 billion.
He stressed that achieving the target would require a knowledge-driven agricultural system supported by skilled personnel and effective extension services.
According to him, Nigeria’s low agricultural productivity compared with other African countries underscores the urgent need to strengthen farmers’ access to technical knowledge and improved production practices.
He noted that while yields for several Nigerian crops remained between 1.3 and 1.5 tonnes per hectare, countries such as Egypt recorded about 11 tonnes per hectare under irrigation
The minister emphasised that extension services must go beyond advising farmers on planting techniques to providing market-oriented information that connects production with industry requirements.
“If your extension services and advice to me is not market-centric, you are just deceiving the farmer. You are wasting his time and discouraging him,” he said.
Abdullahi also called for the integration of GDEC with the ministry’s existing National Electronic Extension Platform (NEEP), warning against duplication of efforts and conflicting agricultural information.
He proposed a ministerial-level committee to harmonise existing initiatives into a unified national agricultural extension delivery system and urged the National Assembly to reconsider the proposed Agricultural Extension Bill.
Also speaking, the Director of the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension, Engr Dr Taiye Tehinse, said digital platforms such as FarmEasy would complement conventional extension approaches by improving communication, data collection and agricultural decision-making.
He said the trained personnel must possess both digital skills and practical agricultural competencies to provide quality advisory support, while calling for the inclusion of women, youths and persons with disabilities in digital agricultural programmes.
Similarly, the Head of Policy and Advocacy at NADF, Yejide Olarinde, identified the shortage of extension personnel as a major obstacle to agricultural development.
She added that GDEC would help ensure that relevant agricultural knowledge reached farmers at the grassroots and translated into measurable improvements in production.
