The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has trained 75,000 extension agents on value chain and methodologies nationwide in collaboration with states’ Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs).
The director, Department of Agricultural Extension in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Frank Satumary Kudla, an engineer, said this at the opening of the training for 50 extension agents in Kaduna.
Represented by a staff of the ministry, Mrs Asma’u Bornona, he mentioned other factors, such as youth unwillingness to embrace agricultural entrepreneurship, the poor capacity of existing extension agents to deliver due to lack or low quality of training, and the poor funding of the subsector.
“This is a great turning point because this programme is one of the first among several recommendations of a special technical committee established by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to assist the ministry.
“Among other responsibilities is to develop a workable framework and actionable programme for the immediate training of 75,000 extension workers in collaboration with states’ ADPs,” he said.
The general manager of the Kaduna State Agricultural Development Agency (KADA), Abubakar Bayero, said 50 extension workers would be trained in Kaduna, saying when local farmers lack full knowledge of new technologies in agriculture, it would affect their performance.
