This discourse was about the role extension can play in ensuring a food secure Nigeria, especially in stemming the nation’s present high food inflation. It features Dr. Badiru Idris, a senior lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ibadan, who has been significantly engaged in transforming the farming system and rural economies in different initiatives at community, state, national and global level and with public, private and NGOs and international institutions. Issues seen with the food situation depict extension gap and the discourse attempted to unravel these gaps and reasons for them tracing the history, approaches and structure of and impediment to extension system and service delivery. On this basis, possible solutions were given and the best form of extension model to adopt looking at learnings in the course of different extension practices and delivery approach. The importance of and the role of the rural economy -being stable and productive -to provide foods and resources supporting lives and other sectors and industries, impacting the general economy and translating to a prosperous nation, was established. In this regard, investing in rural economy ensuring basic amenities and productivity enhancing facilities that makes the rural life worth living to stem rural-urban migration, make life habitable for rural residents and their extension worker partner was highlighted to be crucial. The discourse touched on providing holistic support for extension workers as regards resources and training to support farmers, drive change in rural communities that spreads across the nation -creating employment, opportunities, tackling multidimensional poverty, hunger, inequality, insecurity, and bridging inequality gap. The converse also looked into the role of technology in delivering responsive and effective extension service that advice for the adoption of new technologies that break barriers and expedite the dissemination of venture impacting information, innovation and support. The event ended with revealing the opportunities for graduates of agricultural extension and agriculture in general, detailing the opportunities, possibilities and career prospects in the fields and how to navigate them, offering practical steps.
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Jul 7 20242 hrs and 15 mins
57 mins
52 mins