Extension Services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Developments in Nigeria and Implications for the Future

Some thirty-one countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, adopted the d raining and Visits (T&V) system of extension services sponsored by the World Bank. The aim of the programme was to provide comprehensive agricultural extension (Crop, livestock, forestry and fishery) within a single line of command. The World Bank loan facilities provided, at times, as high as 65 percent of the total fund requirement while the host country contributed the balance. Available information shows that following the withdrawal of the World Bank financial commitment in some of the countries extension activities of these projects have stagnated and halted. The funding for the project is grossly inadequate now and there is no prospect for improvement in the future, considering the limited resources, other competing demands, and the sophistication in extension services. For a sustainable extension service, the paper is proposing a comprehensive review of the activities and functions of the agricultural development projects which supervise extension service delivery. Instead of the general and assembly-line model of technology diffusion in which blanket solutions were given to localised problems, customised packages and environmentally friendly solutions based on farmers involvement should be adopted. The possibility of private sector cofinancing of extension services should be fully explored to alleviate financial problems and complement public funds.