The Minister of agriculture and rural development Alhaji Muhammed Nanono, has warned that the country’s food production is in danger due to the ongoing reduction in financing for agricultural extension.
The minister made this statement during his speech at the inauguration ceremony of the third batch of extension agent training in Ilorin, the capital of the Kwara state.
Nanono was represented at the event by the state coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Dr. Aliyu Isa Kabir.
He described Agricultural extension as the driver of all agricultural policies and research, without which all efforts in the agricultural ecosystem may not realize its intended goals.
The minister blamed the decline in the fortunes of the agricultural extension system on decreased funding, policy changes, reduced manpower and a lack of interest of young people in agricultural entrepreneurship.
He said. “This situation has affected food production exposing the country to the dangers of unemployment, youth restiveness and economic instability.”
He, however, noted that the training which was held in all the headquarters of all the 36 States of the federation including the FCT is one of the strategies employed by the Federal government to stop the drift in the agricultural extension system with aim of pursuing the revitalization of the country’s economy.
“This training is one of several strategies planned by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to halt the drift in the agricultural extension system with the aim of pursuing the revitalization agenda of the Nigerian economy by the Federal Government, “ the minister said.
He urged the participants to take the training seriously, noting that, the training is made to, “ build the capacity of youth and existing practitioners in agricultural extension delivery system, exposing and equipping them with best global practices and tools to enable them deliver with efficiency”.
In his remark, the Kwara State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Gidado Alakawa, lauded the federal ministry for putting in a well-structured training programme for extension agents in the state.
He noted that the programme will help in equipping the agents with, “skill and contemporary best global practices in the Rice, Cassava and Livestock (Fisheries). This will in turn enable them to their statutory duties professionally.”
Alakawa stressed, “Kwara State is well suited for the cultivation of Rice, Cassava and livestock, hence it is the duty of well-trained Extension Agents to disseminate proven, adaptable, adoptable and affordable farming technologies to the rural farmers.”
He however hailed the Kwara state Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for what he described as his, “unrelenting efforts in ensuring food security for all Kwarans”.
