Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has urged the government and agricultural stakeholders to prioritize climate-smart, digital, and gender-responsive innovations in agricultural extension to address food insecurity in Nigeria.
Prof. Adamu Ahmed, ABU Vice-Chancellor, made the call on Thursday during the 2025 National Agricultural Extension Review and Planning Meeting, organized by the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) in Zaria.
He stressed that the annual extension meeting should not be treated as a ceremonial event but as a strategic platform to identify challenges and adopt practical solutions that directly improve farmers’ productivity.
The vice-chancellor warned that climate change is severely disrupting Nigeria’s rainy seasons. He cited NAERLS reports highlighting erratic rainfall, drought, flooding, and increasing pest attacks across states.
He urged extension officers to remain “frontline defenders” by translating research into simple and usable climate-smart techniques such as agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and drought-tolerant crop varieties.
Ahmed also advocated for affordable digital advisory systems in local languages, improved rural internet access, and training of extension workers as “digital intermediaries” capable of helping farmers apply data to practical farming decisions. He emphasized that technology would only be effective if women, youth, and smallholder farmers could access and use it without barriers.
In his remarks, Prof. Yusuf Sani, Director of NAERLS, called for deeper reforms in the extension sector to address climate change, digital exclusion, and gender gaps. He noted that Nigeria lost more than ₦700 billion to flood-related crop damage in the past five years. Sani said NAERLS is expanding climate-smart advisories, promoting resilient seeds, and strengthening early-warning systems for farmers.
Similarly, Dr. Abubakar Dabban, Executive Secretary of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to build an innovative, inclusive, and climate-resilient extension system. Represented by Prof. Ado Yusuf, Executive Director of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria, Dabban commended NAERLS for sustaining the annual platform, describing it as crucial for reviewing extension performance and harmonizing national agricultural activities.
He outlined ARCN’s commitment to strengthening result-oriented research coordination, demand-driven innovations, climate-smart technologies, youth-friendly solutions, and digital extension tools to improve food and nutrition security. Dabban added that the synchronized extension–research calendar expected from the meeting would help minimize duplication, optimist resources, and fast-track technology dissemination for national agricultural growth.
The event was attended by government officials, research leaders, development partners, farmer associations, and private sector representatives from across the country.
