Agricultural extension services are essential for equipping farmers with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to enhance productivity and sustainability. In Nigeria, these services have traditionally been delivered via government-led programmes, including the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs). ADPs aim to bridge the gap between rural communities and research institutions by educating farmers on modern farming practices, pest control, and seed selection.
Regardless of the ADPs in Nigeria, a staggering disparity exists. While the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recommends a ratio of 1,000 farmers per extension agent, Nigeria reportedly operates at 1:10,000, severely limiting access to advisory services.
In response to this systemic challenge, the Federal Government launched the 2023 National Agricultural Extension Policy (NAEP), officially unveiled on November 6, 2023. The 2023 NAEP policy aims to modernise and revitalise the extension system by making it demand-driven, pluralistic, ICT-enabled, and market-oriented. It focuses on the inclusion of youth, women, and persons with special needs in agriculture.
The agricultural extension services in Nigeria have evolved over more than five decades, having faced persistent structural and operational challenges.
The first evolution was the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs). Introduced in the 1970s. The ADPs kick-started with World Bank support. They were designed to institutionalise agricultural extension through a network of extension agents who would provide farmers with technical guidance, improved seeds, pest control strategies, and market linkage advice.
These programmes were groundbreaking in integrating extension with rural development; sadly, their coordination and long-term effectiveness were constrained by inadequate funding, politicisation, and a heavy reliance on donor financing.
By 1991, the Unified Agricultural Extension Services (UAES) was launched. UAES functioned to streamline service delivery by consolidating multiple commodity-specific extension systems into a single platform. The goal was to remove duplication, reduce administrative costs, and improve farmer outreach. However, the UAES failed to achieve full institutional coordination due to the ambiguity in the roles of federal, state, and local agencies. This ambiguity left gaps in accountability and weakened the connection between research outputs and field application.
Next was the 2001 Agricultural Extension Policy. This policy emphasised state government responsibility, private sector engagement, and alignment with food security objectives.
This policy acknowledged that the government alone could not meet farmers’ needs, and it opened the door for partnerships with NGOs, agribusinesses, and farmer cooperatives. Unfortunately, many of these partnerships lacked sustainability or scale without adequate regulatory frameworks.
By 2012, the Agricultural Extension Transformation Agenda (AETA) was introduced as part of Nigeria’s broader agricultural reform strategy. The AETA embraced a participatory, ICT-driven, and demand-responsive approach to extension delivery. It sought to leverage mobile phones, radio, and digital platforms to close the communication gap between research institutions and smallholder farmers. Yet, despite its innovative framework, implementation failed due to insufficient investment in rural connectivity, limited digital literacy among farmers, and poor integration with market systems.
The National Agricultural Extension Policy was introduced in 2023 as a direct response to the structural weaknesses, operational gaps, and evolving challenges in Nigeria’s agricultural extension sector. Its aims are not generic ambitions, but targeted interventions to address specific pain points in the extension system and build a framework that can sustainably improve farmer productivity, resilience, and market integration.
1. One of the most pressing problems identified before the policy’s development was the outdated, supply-driven extension model that offered farmers generic advice that often disconnected from their immediate needs. Hence, the NAEP was introduced to revitalise the extension system via demand-driven, pluralistic, ICT-enabled, and market-oriented systems. The new policy ensures that extension services respond to farmers’ specific circumstances.
2. Historically, extension outreach in Nigeria has overlooked women, youth, and farmers with disabilities. These are groups that form a significant proportion of the agricultural workforce. NAEP aims to close these inclusivity gaps by mandating gender-responsive programming, tailoring training schedules to women’s time constraints, developing youth-friendly agribusiness curricula, and making advisory services accessible to persons with disabilities.
3. Persistent low yields, post-harvest losses, and poor market access have kept many rural households trapped in poverty. The policy seeks to lift farm incomes, stimulate economic growth, and achieve food and nutrition security.
4. A long-standing gap in Nigeria’s agricultural system has been the weak translation of research into practice. The 2023 NAEP aims to address this by strengthening the linkages between National Agricultural Research Institutions (NARIs), universities, input suppliers, and farmers.
5. The policy aims to address the shortage of well-trained and well-equipped agents by investing in capacity-building programmes, performance monitoring systems, and professional incentives to retain skilled agents.
6. Rather than relying on only face-to-face, the policy encourages blended extension methods such as combining on-farm demonstrations, group training, radio, SMS alerts, and interactive apps to improve the reach and timeliness of advisory services.
7. The NAEP focuses on innovation deployment, market integration, and the value chain to close the production-consumption gap. In doing so, it reduces foreign exchange pressure, stabilises food prices, and improves national economic resilience.
By the time the 2023 National Agricultural Extension Policy (NAEP) was conceived, Nigeria’s extension system faced a combination of structural, operational, and environmental challenges that had compounded over decades. These challenges were interconnected problems that weakened farmers’ ability to adopt improved technologies, increase productivity, and adapt to changing market and climatic conditions.
1. Severe manpower shortage and coverage gaps
Nigeria’s ratio of roughly one extension agent to 10,000 farmers often makes regular farm visits impossible, forcing agents to provide only generic advice or none at all. The shortage is particularly acute in remote areas, where terrain, insecurity, and poor infrastructure further reduce access.
2. Chronic underfunding and inconsistent resource flow
Many state-level ADPs operate on outdated vehicles, lack demonstration farm inputs, and are unable to reimburse agents for travel expenses, resulting in reduced fieldwork frequency. Donor projects often temporarily boost capacity, but their withdrawal leaves a service gap. These erratic and inadequate government budget allocations stifle the efficiency of extension agents.
3. Institutional fragmentation and poor coordination
Federal, state, local governments, NGOs, and donor-backed initiatives often operate in parallel, each with its funding streams, mandates, and reporting systems. Therefore, as a result of incongruous coordination mechanisms, extension messages could be duplicative, inconsistent, or mismatched with local needs, hindering extension services.
4. Weak linkages between research and farmers
National Agricultural Research Institutions regularly produce improved crop varieties, pest management techniques, and soil fertility recommendations. However, innovations often remain confined to research stations without a robust extension system to translate these findings into farmer-friendly practices. Extension agents, when available, may lack updated knowledge, leading to outdated advice.
5. Low motivation and capacity of extension agents
Agents often work with minimal professional support, limited career growth prospects, and inadequate training opportunities. Without refresher courses, many fail to keep pace with rapidly evolving agricultural technologies and climate-smart practices. Furthermore, poor remuneration further erodes morale, leading to absenteeism and attrition.
6. Insufficient private sector participation
Globally, private agricultural extension relevant to agribusiness plays a vital role in complementing public efforts. In Nigeria, although USAID-supported models and organisations, such as Winrock International and the Sasakawa Africa Association, have shown success. These remain limited in scope and geography. Regulatory uncertainty, lack of incentives, and weak farmer purchasing power hinder the expansion of sustainable private-led services.
7. Gender and inclusivity gaps
Women contribute significantly to Nigeria’s agricultural labour force, yet extension services have historically been male-dominated in staffing and outreach design. Also, persons with disabilities are often excluded from targeted capacity-building efforts. The government should implement relevant measures, such as gender-sensitive training and development, to ensure inclusivity.
1. Reducing the Extension–Farmer Ratio
A critical barrier to productivity has been the extremely high extension–farmer ratio of approximately 1:10,000, compared to the FAO’s recommended 1:1,000. By strengthening the recruitment, training, and deployment of extension agents, NAEP seeks to increase farmers’ access to timely and tailored advisory services. Better access to extension agents translates to:
2. Promoting ICT-Enabled Advisory Systems
NAEP institutionalises ICT as a central tool for extension delivery. The integration of mobile platforms, interactive voice response (IVR) systems, and farmer–extension agent apps ensures that information on weather, market prices, pest outbreaks, and input availability reaches farmers in real time.
Consequently, this minimises losses from unpredictable climate events. Additionally, farmers can adjust their planting schedules and input use to achieve maximum output.
3. Strengthening Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs)
The policy encourages collaboration with private agribusinesses, NGOs, and donor agencies to complement government efforts. Private sector partners can introduce precision agriculture tools, mechanisation services, and market linkages. Subsequently, the extension network’s reach expands without overburdening public resources. Also, PPP-driven access to mechanised equipment and storage facilities reduces post-harvest losses, thereby improving overall productivity.
4. Integrating Research and Farmer Practices
NAEP formalises stronger linkages between National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) and end users. This ensures rapid dissemination of newly developed climate-smart crop varieties. Farmers can also utilise feedback loops to inform future research priorities. Farmers also leverage local adaptation of global agricultural innovations relevant for Nigeria’s farming conditions.
5. Inclusive Service Delivery
By specifically targeting youth, women, and persons with disabilities, NAEP expands the agricultural labour force and diversifies skill application in farming.
6. Market-Oriented Extension
The policy reorients extension services from being purely production-focused to covering market access and agribusiness skills. Farmers receive training in value addition, cooperative marketing, and financial literacy, enabling them to shift from subsistence production to surplus generation for markets, thereby increasing their income and reinvestment capacity.
7. Climate-Resilient Agriculture Promotion
As Nigeria faces more erratic rainfall patterns and higher temperatures, NAEP’s emphasis on climate-smart agriculture is crucial to productivity. Training on drought-resistant varieties, water harvesting, and integrated pest management helps stabilise yields despite climate stress.
