The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) and partners have commenced a 5-day intensive training workshop for 100 extension workers to accelerate adoption of innovative agricultural techniques by farmers

The training workshop held in Jigawa, Dutse brought together 100 extension master trainers and subject-matter specialists from Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States, representing public and private-sector agricultural organisations.

The training program was held in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the CGIAR Scaling for Impact Programme, the Jigawa Agricultural Transformation Agency (JATA) , the National Agricultural Growth Scheme–Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP) Secretariat and research institutions,

The training is against the backdrop of the African Development Bank’s USD 1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility (AEFPF) and Nigeria’s implementation of the NAGS-AP programme.

The initiative seeks to strengthen access to improved agricultural technologies, inputs, and quality extension services to raise productivity, improve farmers’ incomes, and enhance national food security and resilience.

The training responds to some of the most persistent challenges facing Nigeria’s extension system, including a low extension agent-to-farmer ratio of approximately 1:5,000 to 1:10,000, limited funding, inadequate technical capacity and logistics, and insufficient digital platforms for delivering timely advisory services.

According to Dr Solomon Gizaw, Head of the TAAT Clearinghouse they have brought together scientific and technological resources of Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centres and other partners through its commodity and enabler compacts, including wheat, rice, maize, soybeans, cassava, vegetables, livestock, and aquaculture, alongside enabling areas such as capacity development, youth entrepreneurship, policy, and water and soil fertility.

He said that workshop will equip extension professionals with practical knowledge in climate-smart agriculture, soil health and integrated nutrient management, pest and disease management, improved seed systems, digital agriculture, market linkages and farmer-centred extension approaches.

He added that participants will also learn how to use mobile-based advisory platforms, GIS and remote sensing, data collection and decision-support systems to strengthen data-driven extension services and improve the delivery of climate and agricultural information to farmers.

Dr Gizaw further stated that the workshop was designed around a cascade training model wherein the 100 master trainers will subsequently train frontline extension personnel and farmer organisations, saying the programme was targeted at least 500,000 farmers.

He stated The central message is clear: Nigeria cannot scale agricultural innovation without scaling the people and systems that deliver it. By empowering extension professionals with the right technologies, knowledge, digital tools and partnerships, TAAT and its partners are strengthening the bridge between agricultural science and the millions of farmers who need it most.

“By investing in the people who translate agricultural innovations from research and technology platforms into farming communities, TAAT and its partners are strengthening the foundations of Nigeria’s food systems transformation.”

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, the Director General of the Jigawa Agriculture Transformation Agency (JATA) Dr Saffulai Umar while speaking on the theme of the workshop
“Empowering Extension to Scale Agricultural Innovations,” goes to the heart of our food-security challenge.

He stated “Nigeria does not lack promising technologies. Improved maize hybrids, high-yielding and stress-tolerant rice and wheat varieties, better soil-health practices, climate information, mechanisation options, integrated pest management, water-efficient irrigation and improved post-harvest systems already exist. The persistent gap is the last mile: getting the right knowledge, in a usable form, to the right farmer, at the right time—and supporting that farmer to adopt it profitably.”

He noted the constraints: an extension-to-farmer ratio commonly estimated at between 1:5,000 and 1:10,000; inadequate and unpredictable funding; limited logistics and technical updating; and insufficient digital platforms. These are not merely institutional weaknesses. They translate directly into late planting, inappropriate input use, avoidable crop losses, lower yields, weak market participation and reduced farmer income.