From Abel Leonard, Lafia
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has said it will strengthen Agricultural Development Programme ADP, to sustain food security in Nigeria since it has been adjudged as one of the best extension delivery methodologies.
This was disclosed on Tuesday in a keynote address delivered by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar at the 2-day workshop for the 2022 National Agricultural Extention Development Committee Meeting with the theme, Strengthening ADPs for effective Agricultural Extension service Delivery at the Grassroots in Nigeria” held at the Nasarawa State Government House, Lafia.
He said historically, the Nigerian national agricultural extension systems had recorded the most impact full performance in the days of the Agricultural Development Programme (APD).
“As we are all aware the ADP extension network has been adjudged as one of the best extension delivery methodology, adding that the ADP approach focuses on the small-scale farmer as a vehicle for accelerating agricultural productivity and production focusing on three thematic areas of provision of rural infrastructural facilities, the conduct of worthwhile training on improved agricultural technology and supply of farm input.
“It has led to outstanding performances in increasing in the production levels of some major crops, livestock and fisheries and improvement of rural livelihoods among others.”
Dr Mahmmud further said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development under his leadership believed that the restoration of the ADPs should be a priority to achieve their mandate of ensuring national food security as a means to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 1 & 2 – Poverty Eradication and Zero Hunger.
“The ADP as a semi-autonomous stable Project Management Unit had stable funding arrangement, the World Bank provided 66% of total project cost contributed in civil works, plants vehicles, equipment, spare parts, training and consultancy; the Federal Government provided 19% input procurement, chemicals and pesticides while the benefiting State Governments provided 15% in salaries and general services, the loan drawdown was based on reimbursement other expenditure. He added.
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Delivering his address, Governor of Nasarawa state Abdullahi Sule said he is delighted to address extension workers on the occasion of a 2-Day Workshop for National Agricultural Extension Development Committee, taking place here in Lafia, the State capital.
He acknowledge the presence of distinguished stakeholders and staff from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as the other development partners in the agricultural sector at this event.
He further commended the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for conceiving the idea of this workshop, aimed at broadening the scope of our frontline extension agents on good agricultural practices and dissemination of vital information to smallholder farmers for effective and efficient service delivery.
Sule appreciated the choice of Nasarawa State to host the all-important workshop. “This, I believe is in view of the comparative advantage of the State in the agricultural value chain development.” He said.
“As you are all aware, agriculture is the mainstay of the Nigeria economy and constitutes the largest percentage of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), being the major employer of labour. You are also aware that Nigeria is one of the countries that is endowed with enormous agricultural potentials and arable land suitable for the cultivation of food and cash crops.”
“It is for this reason that more Nigerians are daily getting involved in one kind of agricultural activity or the other.”
He said the Government is not unaware of the neglect the Agricultural Extension Agents suffered over time as a result of dependency on oil as the major source of revenue to the nation’s economy.
In this regard, he said various policies have been put in place to resuscitate and strengthen the ADPs as a parastatal, responsible for transforming the policies of Government into reality in order to drive the diversification of the economy.
In his welcome address, Commissioner for Agriculture, Nasarawa State, Honourable Nuhu Oshafu, welcomed stakeholders present to the epoch-making event of the National Agricultural Extension Development Committee, which he said is geared towards strengthening the ADPs for effective Agricultural Extension Service Delivery at the grass-roots in Nigeria first of Its kind in the state.
“Partnering Agriculture has become expedient in the lives of everyone not because it is the mainstay of the economy but because each and every one of us here depends on all facets of agriculture for survival. So strengthening actors that facilitate its production in our society has become necessary. No wonder several amazing people have flown from across the nation to witness this all-important event,” he said.
Recall that the ADP system started as a pilot project in Funtua, Gombe and Gusau in 1975. Its success led to the establishment of the enclave ADPs in six more states.
The first-generation enclave ADPs were in Ayangba (Kogi State), Lafia (Nasarawa State), Bida (Niger State), Ilorin (Kwara State), Ekiti-Akoko (Ekiti State) and Saki (Oyo State). The process graduated to the first generation State-wide ADPs; in Bauchi 1981 and Kano 1982, Sokoto 1983 and Kaduna 1984.However, with the exit of the World Bank that supported the pilot enclave projects, and the statewide ADP era (1984), extension activities in Nigeria started experiencing a decline.