Actionaid Nigeria, an NGO, has expressed concern over the absence of agricultural extension workers in rural communities.
The Programme Manager of the Local Rights Unit of the organisation, Mrs. Suwaiba Jibrin, told journalists recently in Abuja that, “Extension workers are the government’s technical service providers who specialise in facilitating and monitoring agricultural activities in rural communities.”
“They act as a link between government’s projects and the implementing community through capacity building, enlightenment, innovative ideas monitoring, evaluation and reports at the grassroots,” she stated.
Jibrin, who noted that lack of infrastructure, manpower; allowances and access roads to rural areas were a source of discouragement to agricultural extension agents, however said, the extension workers are also involved in disseminating agricultural information such as technical advice to farmers.
According to her, “when we take these challenge of getting access, getting people, agric extension agent to go to the deep rural areas, government staff don’t go there because there’s no motivation there’s no infrastructure to move; so people are left on their own to join groups whether fake or real.”
“So we need to reactivate our agricultural development programmes bring it back to life, engage with the real people, and then make sure that we start from there. But initiating big projects from the top is not sinking down,” Jibrin clarifies.
Jibrin also urged government at all levels to build the capacity of farmers and encourage them to form pilot groups to attract financial aid and boost agricultural production.
She further urged government to take its agricultural development programmes to the grassroots so that efforts at developing the sector would be planned and coordinated.
According to her, small holder farmers are the engine of agriculture in the country and therefore need such services.
“The small projects that are happening in NAPEP, NDE, the small scale industry - they are all there but then they are not reaching out because of the difficultly in accessing rural communities,” she said.
She maintained that the availability of agricultural extension services at the grassroots would take government’s agricultural projects closer to the people. (NAN)
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