a. Constitutional provisions for agricultural development It is pertinent to note that constitutional provision on the development of agriculture and natural resources points to the policy direction agricultural extension service delivery is expected to take. Chapter 2 Section 16, also supported by the Fourth Schedule Section 2 of the 1999 Constitution provided for tripartite and collective efforts by the three tiers of government in the provision of basic infrastructure that encourage rural farmers, processors, marketers, etc to increase productivity and quality of agricultural resources and commodities, thereby increasing both nutritional status and net income and reducing poverty and unemployment. The importance of this was demonstrated by placing agriculture on the concurrent list, with the leading role played by the local governments, followed by state governments, while the federal government is restricted to policy formulation and creation of enabling environment for all actors. Thus, the current practice of agricultural extension service is not in agreement with the 1999 Constitutional provision. The federal government is now the major player in the implementation of agricultural development, while state governments are the leading players in agricultural extension service delivery. The local governments are practically onlookers with regard to agricultural research, extension and training, providing sporadic interventions in selected areas of vaccinations for animals and provision of farm inputs. This absence of synergy and role sharing in achieving specificity, sustainability and competitiveness in agricultural development is thus the reverse of the constitutional provision (Abubakar, 2011).
b. Government programmes and strategies for agricultural extension The existing agricultural extension delivery service is in a state of confusion, as no definite policy is driving the programmes, strategies and practices (Madukwe, 2008, Abubakar, 2011). In the current practice, the federal government is leading in numerous initiatives and programmes, such as the National Food Security Programme (NFSP), Fadama III, Commercial Agricultural Development Programme (CADP), Root and Tuber Extension Programme (RTEP), among others. The implementation of these programmes usually takes its toll of quality personnel from the few state ADP staff, making it near impossible for the ADPs to undertake the basic functions of grassroots extension delivery. Moreover, State Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) are the only formal institutions for delivering agricultural extension services in the country; they are solely managed by various States, that is, with no institutional arrangement with federal or local governments. Visible synergy is only observed on initiatives promoted by the federal government which often reduces both personnel and other resources of these ADPs. This is
Journal of Agricultural Extension Vol. 18(1) June, 2014 ISSN 1119-944X
4
despite the key constraints of the ADPs, such as shortage of extension agents (EAs) (quality & quantity), inadequate mobility allowances and other key field facilities. To compound the problem, LGAs are not in any way connected with any aspects of grassroots extension delivery as most do not have trained EAs, nor are they involved in promoting agricultural innovations. In most cases, the agriculture departments of LGAs are hardly involved in any real agricultural extension delivery activities. In terms of finance, there seems to be the absence of visible funding mechanism directed at extension delivery from Federal Government (FG) and LGAs. The State Governments (SGs) provide finances for ADP’s operations and counterpart funding of FG initiatives/projects with little impact on grassroots farm families in their states. (Abubakar, 2011).
c. Ambiguous status of local governments Reflecting the state of public opinion on this subject, the 1999 Constitution is also somewhat ambiguous with regard to the autonomy of Local Governments from the authority of the state government within whose boundaries they fall. Article 7 empowers the state government to enact legislation with regard to “the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions” of democratically elected local government councils. Furthermore, even in the Fourth Schedule, which provides a list of functions to be performed by Local Government Councils, some critical areas of basic service delivery that have traditionally been regarded as the responsibility of Local Government Authorities—the development of agriculture inclusive—are now implied to be the responsibility of state governments, with Local Government Council involvement relegated to that of participation in the state’s execution of its functions. The Constitution provides that “The functions of a local government council shall include participation of such council in the Government of a State as respects the following matters: (a) the provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education; (b) the development of agriculture and natural resources, other than the exploitation of minerals; ...and (d) such other functions as may be conferred on a local government council by the House of Assembly of the State.”
Hence, provision of extension services which is the focus of this paper is assigned as the responsibility of the state and local governments, with no clear legal delineation between the relative roles of these two sub-national tiers of government. As things stand now, the state-level discretion with regard to the powers of the LGAs has led to wide variation in the extent of autonomy afforded to LGAs both within and across states—in many cases they function as mere administrative extensions of state governments. By the constitution, agricultural development was placed as a share responsibility of the State and Local governments. However, State governments appear to be ultimately responsible for the actual delivery of extension services, and often have to take over the activities and responsibilities of local governments in order to ensure delivery.
a. Constitutional provisions for agricultural development It is pertinent to note that constitutional provision on the development of agriculture and natural resources points to the policy direction agricultural extension service delivery is expected to take. Chapter 2 Section 16, also supported by the Fourth Schedule Section 2 of the 1999 Constitution provided for tripartite and collective efforts by the three tiers of government in the provision of basic infrastructure that encourage rural farmers, processors, marketers, etc to increase productivity and quality of agricultural resources and commodities, thereby increasing both nutritional status and net income and reducing poverty and unemployment. The importance of this was demonstrated by placing agriculture on the concurrent list, with the leading role played by the local governments, followed by state governments, while the federal government is restricted to policy formulation and creation of enabling environment for all actors. Thus, the current practice of agricultural extension service is not in agreement with the 1999 Constitutional provision. The federal government is now the major player in the implementation of agricultural development, while state governments are the leading players in agricultural extension service delivery. The local governments are practically onlookers with regard to agricultural research, extension and training, providing sporadic interventions in selected areas of vaccinations for animals and provision of farm inputs. This absence of synergy and role sharing in achieving specificity, sustainability and competitiveness in agricultural development is thus the reverse of the constitutional provision (Abubakar, 2011).
b. Government programmes and strategies for agricultural extension The existing agricultural extension delivery service is in a state of confusion, as no definite policy is driving the programmes, strategies and practices (Madukwe, 2008, Abubakar, 2011). In the current practice, the federal government is leading in numerous initiatives and programmes, such as the National Food Security Programme (NFSP), Fadama III, Commercial Agricultural Development Programme (CADP), Root and Tuber Extension Programme (RTEP), among others. The implementation of these programmes usually takes its toll of quality personnel from the few state ADP staff, making it near impossible for the ADPs to undertake the basic functions of grassroots extension delivery. Moreover, State Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) are the only formal institutions for delivering agricultural extension services in the country; they are solely managed by various States, that is, with no institutional arrangement with federal or local governments. Visible synergy is only observed on initiatives promoted by the federal government which often reduces both personnel and other resources of these ADPs. This is
Journal of Agricultural Extension Vol. 18(1) June, 2014 ISSN 1119-944X
4
despite the key constraints of the ADPs, such as shortage of extension agents (EAs) (quality & quantity), inadequate mobility allowances and other key field facilities. To compound the problem, LGAs are not in any way connected with any aspects of grassroots extension delivery as most do not have trained EAs, nor are they involved in promoting agricultural innovations. In most cases, the agriculture departments of LGAs are hardly involved in any real agricultural extension delivery activities. In terms of finance, there seems to be the absence of visible funding mechanism directed at extension delivery from Federal Government (FG) and LGAs. The State Governments (SGs) provide finances for ADP’s operations and counterpart funding of FG initiatives/projects with little impact on grassroots farm families in their states. (Abubakar, 2011).
c. Ambiguous status of local governments Reflecting the state of public opinion on this subject, the 1999 Constitution is also somewhat ambiguous with regard to the autonomy of Local Governments from the authority of the state government within whose boundaries they fall. Article 7 empowers the state government to enact legislation with regard to “the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions” of democratically elected local government councils. Furthermore, even in the Fourth Schedule, which provides a list of functions to be performed by Local Government Councils, some critical areas of basic service delivery that have traditionally been regarded as the responsibility of Local Government Authorities—the development of agriculture inclusive—are now implied to be the responsibility of state governments, with Local Government Council involvement relegated to that of participation in the state’s execution of its functions. The Constitution provides that “The functions of a local government council shall include participation of such council in the Government of a State as respects the following matters: (a) the provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education; (b) the development of agriculture and natural resources, other than the exploitation of minerals; ...and (d) such other functions as may be conferred on a local government council by the House of Assembly of the State.”
Hence, provision of extension services which is the focus of this paper is assigned as the responsibility of the state and local governments, with no clear legal delineation between the relative roles of these two sub-national tiers of government. As things stand now, the state-level discretion with regard to the powers of the LGAs has led to wide variation in the extent of autonomy afforded to LGAs both within and across states—in many cases they function as mere administrative extensions of state governments. By the constitution, agricultural development was placed as a share responsibility of the State and Local governments. However, State governments appear to be ultimately responsible for the actual delivery of extension services, and often have to take over the activities and responsibilities of local governments in order to ensure delivery.
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