Government Plans Train- the trainer Model For Extention Workers
The Federal Government of Nigeria says plans are underway to provide a Train-the-Trainer model for extension workers involved in dry season farming.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari stated this at a news conference while unveiling plans to boost food security in the country recently.
The minister said the training would be in collaboration with wheat producing states and other partners.
Train- the –Trainer is a framework for preparing practitioners (extension workers) to pass methods and expertise on to others who might become trainers themselves.
The minister said that the certification of available planting materials for some food security crops in readiness for dry-season farming was ongoing.
He said that as part of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket, NAGS-AP, projects funded by the African Development Bank, the target is to produce wheat over a 70, 000 hectares across the wheat production zone of the country.
The minister said this is with an expected yield of 875,000 metric tonnes for the country’s food reserve.
“The blending of appropriate fertilizers to support this year’s dry season farming while making provisions for next year farming season well in advance.
” Providing Train-the-Trainer for extension agents involved in dry season farming in collaboration with wheat producing States and other partners such as flour mills.
“Furthermore, arrangements are also at advanced stage for dry season farming of rice, maize, and other horticultural crops,” he said.
The Federal Government in 2022 trained 75,000 extension workers on agricultural value chain and methodologies nationwide.
This was in collaboration with the States Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs).
Revitalisation Agenda
A former minister of agriculture, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, had said the training was one of government plans in pursuing the revitalisation agenda of food and job creation in the country.
Abubakar said the training was aimed at empowering extension workers with knowledge to enhance service delivery to farmers.
He said that the training would also equip the extension workers with production practices and equipment for technical support.
According to him, agricultural extension delivery is the driver of all agricultural policies and research, without which all efforts in the agricultural ecosystem might not realise its intended goals.
”Over the years, the fortunes of agricultural extension system declined majorly due to decreased funding, policy changes, reduced manpower and lack of interest of young people in agricultural entrepreneurship,” he said.
Global Competitiveness
Abubakar said that it is the desire of the Federal Government and Nigerians to see that the nation’s agricultural extension delivery system meets global competitiveness to augment government’s foreign earnings.
The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, said the training was a key activity in the implementation of the government policy on revitalisation of agricultural extension delivery in Nigeria
Umakhihe said the training was aimed at bridging the gap in extension service providers, which was affecting agricultural productivity and food security in the country.
He said the drive by the administration to revitalise agricultural extension services was to help farmers, and value chain actors create jobs and promote sustainable agricultural and socio-economic development of the country.
The agricultural extension service offers technical advice on agriculture to farmers and also supplies them with inputs and services to support third agricultural production.
NAN/Shakirat Sadiq
