The new era of extension requires a multifaceted approach to achieve maximum deliverables, this was statement made by Dr Mohammed Silim Nahdy, the Executive director of the African forum for Agriculture advisory services. Speaking at the on going Africa Food systems summit in Kigali Rwanda in a meeting for Extension base actors held at the Lemigo Hotel. He emphasised the need to equip the new generation extensionist with all skills and technologies that will enable him deliver.
Dr Silim noted that Previously, the extension has operated along single lines with a singular focus. Still, the emerging issues in Africa’s agriculture require more innovation and thus the need to bundle services to help the farmers get it all . saying the time to go digital is now.
“There is a need for a framework to unite actors by focusing more on the farmer level. The public extension in Africa should move towards a business approach. We should also adapt to use of Digitalization, this can reach 30-40% of farmers who have digital access. The virtual marketplace could help create market access as well. So , believe me, No single model could solve all the problems, but we need to integrate different models and bundle them up.,” Dr. Nahdy said.
Giving a key note address at the meeting, , Prof Hamady Boga, the vice president of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in charge of Programs, hailed the importance of African agriculture extension as a pathway towards enhancing the productive capacity of African smallholder farmers towards attaining food and nutrition security.
“African smallholder farmers still have very low yields. The average metric tons per hectare is hovering around two metric tons or below. So that is still unacceptable. Just by realizing the potential of current technologies, we can go to six metric tons per hectare. Some countries have tried and they have moved the needle a little bit, like Ethiopia. So that is a challenge that we have to address.’ Said Prof Hamady.
Sara Mbago-Bhunu, Director of East and Southern Africa, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said there are many opportunities to improve last-mile delivery, with IFAD helping to finance ecosystems.
“As IFAD we realise that there is a need to work with governments to improve the land tenure system (land access, release of lands to young people for agriculture). This is the new focus of financing agriculture, young people still claim not to have access to land which should be collateral for access to finance. we need to also support youth access the e-voucher system which is an opportunity and allows agro-dealers to access credit through digital channels. We can also use digital tools to enhance plant and animal health. We need to move from supply-driven to demand-driven extension,” she said.
Dr Lilian Lihaisi the director programmes at the African forum for agriculture advisory who was Moderating the event said for extension to be effective, key factors to address include climate vulnerability because this has on many occasions let down the extension actors despite their efforts.
‘it is time we focused on issues that maz fail extensio9n to flourish, extension is about trust. we see again that these yields, although they are low, are also declining. And in some cases, we have had total crop failure in some years and the drought has become more frequent, more severe, and impacting more on the livelihoods and production of the smallholder farmer.’ Adds Dr Lihaisi
Dr. Mel Oluoch, Director of Strategic Partnerships, African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) said his institution launched the Sasakawa fund to support training across the value chain (from universities to the grassroots) and engaged farmers to be business-focused.
‘sasakawa has helped transform extension in agfrica, we need governments to think about numbers. In ethopia where we have supported the numbers, we have seen the impact, ethopia is leading in agriculture transformation now, we need to have these stories ‘ said Dr Mel.
Dr. Pual Fatch, the chairperson Africa of the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), said his institution has a mandate from the African Union on Extension and Soil Health.he said AFAAS is leading in process of bringing together actors to jointly influence the government, being the ones who know where it hurts most. If we make it work, the government will put in funding as they would love to identify with success
Ben Grove, the Director of Virginia Tech, emphasised the promotion of the cooperative extension model, involving Federal, State, and County actors, all investing together; connecting research and development in a two-way format, ensuring that all practitioners are connected.