‘Local govt ADPs are moribund’

Despite the federal government’s clamour for investment and involvement of all ties of government in agriculture, evidences abound that the Agricultural Development Project (ADP) across the country that used to be the centre of activities are moribund.
It could be recalled that ADP was established to raise productivity, income and standard of living of rural farmers in Nigeria.
Blueprint finding revealed that both state and federal government have neglected the ADPs despite having several officers in place.
Most ADPs are starved of funds and even when allocations are made in the budget for the centres, they are hardly release.
States still having their ADP staff in place are neither engaging them nor paying them.
Speaking with stakeholders at the two day consultative meeting on 2019 agriculture budget in Lagos, most complained of policy inconsistencies and paucity of fund as government seems to have abandoned the ADPs.
Most ADP offices are dilapidated, most of the offices starve of equipment to enable them function appropriately.
In some states, there has not be employment into the ADP section for years and this has further hasten the dearth of extension services in most states.
A participant from Gombe, who does not want his name on print, urged the federal government fund the sector and fully engage staff in the ADPs as full extension officers.

Leave a Reply