Oyo State Agric Extension Office Deserted, Federal Director laments

The Oyo state Agricutural extension office was evidently emptied during the office working hours. Food Farm News visit revealed.

Also, a Director of extension services at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security ( FMAFS) Mr. Deola Lordbanjour has described the sub-sector dead in Nigeria Since the World Bank supports for Agricutural extension had stopped in Nigeria, the story of performance of this sub sector that handles improved technologies transfer and training of best agronomics practices to farmers had since turned sour as being revealed in many annual fora of Research Extension - Farmers -Input Linkage System ( REFILS) and Cropping programs. 

The Food Farm News visit to the Oyo State Agricutural Development Program Zonal Headquarter along Moor plantation, Apata road road, Ibadan revealed the emptiness of the offices even as the main gate was wide opened to give an impression of office activities. 

There was nobody to attend to our correspondent who visited the office even right from the gate which was wide opened into locked up offices that are strategic to technologies transfer to food security in the state. 

Findings from many agricultural functions have always been the same story of no impact of the ADPs in food productivity value chains as many states had refused to fund this organ of the agriculture sub sector. Our visit is just a confirmation of what is actually happening to the ADPs except in some very few places. 

Meanwhile, the Director of extension services at FMAFS Mr. Deola Lordbanjour at the recent press briefing of the Ministry held last week in Abuja to mark the World food day for year 2024 has said that the extension services in Nigeria is dead, saying effort is being made to resuscitate it by the FG. Mr.  Lordbanjour. raised alarm on the failure of the sub sector saying numbers of extension workers to farmers was too low to require numbers. 

He pointed out that the Government is addressing the issue of extension-farmer ratio which currently stands at one extension agent for about 25,000 farmers. The Director described the extension ratio as unethical to the standard of one worker to 800 farmers. 

He added that the extension Department of the Ministry has successfully trained over 15,000 farmers across all the 36 states of the federation, equipping them with essential inputs for sustainable agricultural production.  

Lordbanjour said that in the coming weeks, the ministry plans to distribute inputs to additional 37,000 farmers, including those in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).