Chijioke Iremeka
Nutrition experts have said increasing the number of agricultural extension workers and empowering them to educate farmers about biofortified crops could significantly enhance the nationwide consumption of fortified foods, leading to better nutrition across Nigeria.
The nutritionists highlight that the limited availability and general consumption of fortified foods in the country are largely due to a lack of promotion for research products developed by agricultural research institutes.
According to the experts, extension workers are essential for educating farmers on the importance of mass production of these foods for the broader population.
They, however, noted that many areas face a shortage of these workers, and those who are available often lack the training and resources needed to effectively carry out their tasks, saying that strengthening this workforce is crucial for improving the nutritional landscape in Nigeria.
The Nigeria Seed Portal Initiative said agriculture is indispensable in the economy of every nation but lamented that many agricultural innovations are unknown to farmers and other potential end users due to the weak linkage of agricultural extension with research.
It noted that the role of agricultural extension agents is paramount in ensuring the proper adoption of any significant agricultural innovation, especially improved seed varieties, good agricultural practices, mechanisation, among others.
“Extension agents serve as links between the farmers and the researchers. They are professionals who are knowledgeable about agricultural concepts, methods, and practices, as well as scientific methods. Therefore, it is easier for them to understand any information coming from the researchers,” the Initiative stated.
Speaking with PUNCH Healthwise in different interviews, the nutritionists said that Nigeria had fortified several foods but the Ministry of Agriculture through extension workers had not taken them to the farmers to cultivate.
A Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Ignatius Onimawo, said many biofortified foods produced in the country’s research institutes, were not being mass-produced by farmers to make them available for the masses.
Worried about the situation, Onimawo said that the ideal procedure was for the extension workers to educate the farmers on the new products and give them the products to the farmers with the capacity to cultivate and mass-produce them.
He lamented that many foods in Nigeria are already biofortified, but the challenge remained the lack of sensitisation programmes to educate the people and the farmer, to especially to clear the misconception that these products are Genetically Modified Organisms.
Onimawo emphasised that “Research had been conducted, but the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is yet to live up to her expectations with regards to giving out the information that these biofortified foods are capable of combating micronutrient deficiencies in Nigeria.”
The former Vice-Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma, Edo State, said the majority of these extension workers are old and do not have the aggressiveness required to do this work, saying that the government needs to employ younger people to undertake this responsibility.
He said, “The last time government employed extension workers was over 10 years ago when I went for a programme in Abuja and since then, nothing employment has been made. If you look at it, those persons who were employed over 10 years ago would have been old, by now.
“The ones available are not well trained and equipped for this job. They need skills and training empowerment to be able to relate with the farmers. These farmers are the ones that would mass produce them and make the available to the masses. But before then, they have to accept the products first.
“If this is done, a wide population of Nigeria will feed on these biofortified foods and it would reduce the rate of malnutrition in the country and boost healthy diet in the country. The absence of these foods makes Nigerians eat only the available foods. We have fortified yellow cassava, iron beans, sweet potatoes, and others.”
Onimawo said little has been done, saying if biofortification is widely adopted, Nigeria as a country could eliminate the need for vitamin A supplementation; people would be able to obtain it directly from their food.
“There won’t be a need for it, and if there is, it will be minimal. The government is spending too much on industrial biofortification. Those funds could be better allocated to other areas of the economy.”
Speaking further, a registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Olusola Malomo said that the government needs to revive the work of agriculture extension workers to be able to increase the visibility of these biofortified foods in the country.
He said there is a need to strengthen the linkage between the agricultural extension system and agricultural research institutes in order to ensure that agricultural innovations are widely embraced by farmers.
Agricultural extension agents should be adequately empowered and equipped to effectively and efficiently carry out their professional functions, Malomo said.
He added that proper guidance from the extension agent is required in the trial of the innovations by the farmers and other potential end users.
“Successful trial will help in creating positive perceptions about the agricultural innovations and therefore aid their full usage,” he added.
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