The government of Nigeria has embraced the digitalization of extension models as an enabler of agricultural extension landscapes. This has been through transformative collaborative efforts and innovative models aimed at reaching smallholder farmers” a statement by Professor Emmanuel Ikani, Executive Director of the Nigeria Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (NFAAS), speaking at the national inception meeting of the project entitled Scaling and Operationalization of Pluralistic Last-Mile Delivery, the project funded by AGRA and implemented by the Africa forum for agriculture advisory services (AFAAS) .
Virtually participating, in his welcome remarks and keynote address, Dr Silim Nanhdy the executive director of AFAAS welcomed participants and highlighted the importance of collaboration. He expressed appreciation to AGRA for its commitment to providing agricultural extension services.
“AFAAS is committed to deliver the African Farmer to the marketplace, however, this can only be attained with collaborations and partnerships, I thank AGRA for coming in to support and be instrumental in bridging the agricultural knowledge gap in Nigeria and across Africa,” adds Dr Silim Nnadhy.
Dr. Salim Nahdy, further highlighted the significance of partnership and support from the Nigerian government. He acknowledged the role of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in supporting NFAAS, praising AGRA for its dedication to the organization and its commitment to agricultural development in Nigeria.
He outlined critical challenges faced by African agriculture, including climate change, disease outbreaks, soil degradation, and population growth. He emphasized the importance of addressing these issues systematically, saying, “Africa faces increasing climatic threats, and without intervention, food insecurity will continue to rise.”
He added, “Diseases are crippling our crops, and poor soils limit productivity across the continent.” He continued, “Africa’s growing population requires innovative solutions to feed communities sustainably.” Dr. Nahdy noted that the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) is actively working on these issues, stating, “CAADP initiatives are leading efforts to create resilience and sustainability in our agricultural sector.”
He also spoke on the role of digitalization and pluralization in overcoming these challenges, highlighting digital technology as essential in transforming extension services. “Digital tools enable us to reach more farmers with real-time, tailored advice, helping them make informed decisions,” he noted. By leveraging pluralistic approaches, African agricultural systems can integrate both public and private sector services, which, according to Dr. Nahdy, allows the use of diverse perspectives and resources to meet farmers’ unique needs.
Dr. Lilian Lihasi,AFAAS acting director program emphasized the importance of scaling agricultural extension services across Africa to boost productivity, tackle challenges, and improve resilience in agricultural systems. She said AFAAS was working to ensure vital information and support reaches the lastmile actors and smallholder farmer.”
Dr Lihasi further also reaffirmed her commitment to ongoing collaborations between AGRA and AFAAS to enhance agricultural outcomes. “we have this partnership that is growing and we belive we are going to scale and reach every last mile actors in africa, we are going to do this through digitalization as a pathway to enabling better smart scaling of Scaling and Operationalization of Pluralistic Last-Mile Delivery.”
Dr. Lilian K. Lihasi of AFAAS, introduced various projects funded by AGRA that aim to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability in Africa. She began with a stark overview of current challenges, observing, “Africa’s agricultural productivity is low across all farming systems.” She noted that agricultural growth rates of around 1% struggle to keep pace with population growth rates of 2.5%. Additionally, she highlighted the reality that “20% of Africa’s food is imported,” and cited weak extension systems as a significant barrier, resulting in “low productivity, low profitability, and natural resource degradation.”
Dr. Lihasi discussed AGRA’s approach to addressing these challenges, particularly through private sector-led models, including the Village-Based Advisor (VBA) and Lead Farmer Approach. “These models are designed to complement government extension efforts, bridging gaps in reach and efficiency,” she stated. She emphasized that AGRA’s initiatives, such as digitalized and context-specific extension content, help farmers access up-to-date, relevant information. “Providing context-specific advisories has enabled farmers to access personalized services tailored to their unique challenges,” she added, noting that the model has shown promise, though sustainability remains a challenge.
Dr. Esther Ibrahim, the AGRA country representative for Nigeria , thanked AFAAS for the swift implementation of the project and assured AGRA,s commitment and its effectiveness in last-mile input delivery and support for smallholder farmers. She gave insights on the The Community-Based Advisor (CBA) model and noted the importance of training self-employed village advisors and conducting needs assessments to ensure that farmers’ requirements are met.
During this meeting, Success stories, like those of Hope Fidelis and Hassan Aliyu Musa, illustrated the impact of the CBA model. Hope, a youth advisor and agro-dealer in Kauru LGA, stated, “I used income from my farm and profit from seed sales” to advance his business, underscoring the model’s empowerment potential. Similarly, Hassan Aliyu Musa, a smallholder farmer and CBA in Kaduna State, shared how the program enhanced his farm productivity, increasing his maize yield from 2 MT/ha to 5.7 MT/ha. “By adopting improved inputs and practices, my income has grown significantly, enabling me to reinvest in my community,” Musa explained.
According to Daniel Nanghaka the project technical coordinator for digitalization, the AGRA’s project objectives focus on digitalizing extension services, diversifying revenue systems, and fostering a supportive environment for the private sector to thrive.
Nanghaka highlighted the need for digitalized, farming-system-specific content that can be cascaded down to address productivity and resilience. Through this digital infrastructure, the project aims to develop repository systems to make extension information accessible to farmers.
He also identified the primary beneficiaries, including national agricultural research systems (NARS), non-state actors, and public and private sectors, with the potential to directly impact 500,000 smallholder farmers. “By actively involving Village-Based Advisors and community-based advisors, this project reaches grassroots farmers who need support the most,” He said.
