Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) has said that conflicts especially in the north have hindered the ability of small-scale farmers to expand their scale of operation to medium or large-scale farms.
APRI in Nigeria also stated that promoting medium-scale farming is a potential policy tool for achieving increasing smallholder commercialisation, small-scale farm income and rural employment.
This was revealed at a presentation made by APRA Workstream 1Country Coordinator, Professor Adebayo Aromolaran in Kaduna.
Aromolaran, a professor of Agricultural and Development Economics, Adekunle Ajasin University in Ondo State who was represented by the Kaduna State APRA Work-stream 1 Coordinator, Dr. Fadlullah Issa, emphasised that supporting the growth of medium-scale farming in Nigeria by deliberate policy actions of government and other stakeholders could provide an important pathway to increasing agricultural commercialisation.
This he said, will, in turn, lead to significant increases in welfare and livelihoods of small-scale farm households.