Issues and Prospects of Agricultural Technology Development and Dissemination Systems in Nigeria

Abstract

The issues and prospects of agricultural technology development and transfer systems in Nigeria continue to raise attention of consumers and users of agricultural innovations in the country. It is believed that the development, transfer and utilization of relevant agricultural technologies are very important and sustainable ways of improving the productivity of farmers and increasing food production. However, it has been observed that there is low agricultural productivity in the country which has been attributed to low or non-adoption of developed agricultural technologies by famers in the country. Nigeria agricultural technology development/transfer system is still rudimentary in character and traditional in expected accomplishments and observers see this as largely due to poor funding of agricultural research. Current levels of agricultural production and agricultural resource productivity in Nigeria show that there is a large need for improvement, This paper, therefore, examined some different agricultural strategies or approaches the agricultural sector in Nigeria has used in technology development and transfer to increase production.   The process is still top-down, which has resulted in development of technologies that neither meet the farmers’ needs nor address their production constraints.  It was recommended that the farmers should be involved at every stage of technology development for increased production.