The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has urged agricultural sector stakeholders to expand the results of innovative extension service models to address food insecurity in Nigeria. 

Speaking at the opening of the National Agricultural Extension Service Impact-sharing Workshop today in Abuja Kyari, represented by the Director of the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services, Dr. Deola Tayo Lordbanjou, pointed out that without a responsive and impactful extension service, achieving food sufficiency in Nigeria would remain elusive.

In his remarks, the Project Director for USAID Project “Feed The Future”, Jean Pierre Rousseau, highlighted the challenge of ensuring food sufficiency in Nigeria, particularly with one extension agent serving 10,000 farmers.

According to him, the heart of the solution lies in Nigeria’s remarkable spirit of entrepreneurship, adding that over 311 MSMEs have been mobilized to bring innovative solutions and productivity-enhancing services to the doorsteps of 2 million smallholder farmers.

Also Executive Director of the National Agriculture Extension and Research, Emmanuel Ikani, underscored the significance of demand-driven, market-led extension services.

While he explained that farmers are willing to pay for valuable information, Ikani also addressed the stigma associated with farming, particularly among the youth. He noted that mechanization and improved market access are essential to making agriculture more attractive.