The Federal Government has called for a major shift in Nigeria’s agricultural extension system, urging stakeholders to move away from a traditional supply-driven approach and adopt a demand-driven model that gives farmers reliable information based on their specific needs and market opportunities.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, made the call on Wednesday at the Africa Agribusiness Extension Summit, where stakeholders examined ways to develop sustainable agricultural advisory infrastructure across Africa.

Kyari said agricultural extension services would only be effective when they are designed around the realities of farmers, the crops they produce and the markets they are targeting.

According to the minister, simply producing large volumes of agricultural information is not enough. Farmers must be able to identify what information they need and connect with qualified extension officers who can provide accurate and practical guidance.

He said the proposed system should therefore operate as a demand pool, allowing farmers to seek specific advice and access verified and certified extension agents when required.

Kyari also raised concerns about the growing volume of unverified information available to farmers, particularly with the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

He warned that AI could make it easier for people to generate inaccurate agricultural information, including fabricated farm data and misleading technical advice.

To address the problem, he said the government and other stakeholders must establish mechanisms for verifying agricultural information and identifying qualified professionals responsible for delivering extension advice.

The minister said building trust was critical to the success of the proposed system, arguing that farmers who repeatedly receive accurate and useful information would develop greater confidence in agricultural advisory services.

He also stressed that agricultural extension could not be separated from the market. According to him, farmers must understand what buyers want before deciding what to produce, particularly when targeting export markets.

Kyari cited commodities such as sesame seed and hibiscus as examples of Nigerian agricultural products with international demand. He cautioned farmers against rushing into lucrative markets without understanding the quality, specifications and other requirements expected by buyers.

He said extension services should therefore begin with market information, including the identity of potential buyers, product specifications, quality standards and the conditions that could lead to rejection.

The minister explained that farmers need practical guidance from the earliest stages of production, including choosing suitable farmland, land preparation, application of agricultural inputs, weed management and other production practices.

He added that traceability has become an increasingly important requirement in agricultural markets, particularly for products destined for international buyers.

According to Kyari, extension systems should help farmers understand and implement traceability requirements while ensuring that technical information is presented in a simple and accessible manner.

He further noted that Nigeria's agricultural advisory system must reflect the country's wide range of agroecological zones.

Nigeria has extensive agricultural land covering different ecological environments, including the Sahel, Sudan and Guinea savannahs, forest zones, mountainous areas and mangrove regions. Kyari said these different environments require different production methods and, consequently, different forms of agricultural advice.

The minister described food security as a major national priority and said the size and diversity of Nigeria's agricultural sector created significant opportunities that could only be fully realised through better access to knowledge and appropriate farming practices.

Kyari also disclosed that the government had reviewed the curriculum for Diploma and Higher National Diploma (HND) agricultural programmes to increase practical training.

He said the review was carried out because existing training programmes had become outdated and needed to better prepare agricultural students for practical work.

According to the minister, practical training will now account for about 70 per cent of the course content in the reviewed agricultural programmes, with the aim of producing graduates with stronger hands-on skills.

Kyari said agricultural colleges were originally established to serve as channels through which new technologies and research findings could reach farmers, making them an important part of the country's agricultural extension infrastructure.

He called for stronger coordination between research institutions, agricultural colleges, extension agents, farmers and markets to ensure that innovations developed within the research system reach farms and produce measurable results.

Using cassava production as an example, the minister noted that Nigeria remains one of the world's major cassava producers but said high production volumes do not automatically translate into high productivity per hectare.

He argued that improved farmer knowledge, better farming practices, appropriate varieties and timely technical advice could help close the productivity gap.

For the minister, the central objective of the proposed agricultural advisory system should remain the Nigerian farmer and the farm itself.

He urged stakeholders at the summit to focus on developing an extension infrastructure that delivers reliable information, responds to farmers' actual needs and connects agricultural production with viable markets.

Kyari said the success of Nigeria's agricultural transformation would ultimately depend not only on policies but also on how effectively those policies translate into practical knowledge and support for farmers across the country's diverse farming communities.

Reporting by TalkNaijaMedia