By Chinyere Anyanwu
The Federal Government has recently inaugurated the Committee for the Extension Manual Review to promote effective and efficient extension services delivery and produce a harmonised copy for evaluation and validation.
The Chief Information Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Ezeaja Ikemefuna, made this statement recently in Abuja.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Ernest Umakhihe, while inaugurating the committee, said the initiative would facilitate the impactful practices of effective service delivery to the agricultural value chains into the current extension training manual.
Umakhihe said the ministry, through Agricultural Extension Services, is partnering with USAID FtF Extension Activity, Rural Resilience (Mercy Corps), Winrock International Farmer to Farmer (F2F) Programme, to achieve food and nutrition security, improve quality of seeds and boost production. According to him, the committee would recommend manpower training for agricultural extension services personnel to improve extension services in the agricultural sector and streamline policies toward achieving quality seedlings and increase in food production.
Also speaking, the Director, Agricultural Extension Services, Mr. Frank Kudla, said the technical review team comprised the Developmental Partners like USAID, Sasakawa Africa, the Federal University of Abeokuta and National Roots Research Institutes, among others.
“These are tested agricultural extension services professionals and experts in public and private sector.”
Responding on behalf of the committee, the Sasakawa Africa Country Director, Prof. Sani Miko, assured that it would work assiduously to achieve its set objectives for food sufficiency, improved quality seedlings, increased production and boost the economy.
The Terms of Reference of the committee include a review of the existing extension training manual and incorporate innovations and proven ideas that would enhance its efficiency. Others are to produce a harmonised copy for evaluation and validation, incorporate corrections and produce a final copy after validation and make recommendations on who should be trained, using the manual.