FG’s NEEP to address farmers’ extension challenges

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The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has inaugurated the National Electronic Extension Platform (NEEP) Back End Office to promote extension service delivery in Nigeria.

Speaking at the inauguration in Abuja on Thursday, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, minister of state for agriculture and food security, said that the current extension agent-to-farmer ratio, which stands at 1:25,000, remains untenable for effective agricultural development.

The minister said the platform is designed to provide real-time solutions to smallholder farmers, thereby contributing to the nation’s food security goals.

Abdullahi highlighted that the platform would upscale outreach efforts and ensuring that farmers have immediate access to necessary information, methods and techniques to accelerate agricultural productivity.

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The NEEP is expected to integrate the National Agricultural Research and Extension System (NARES) and other key institutions, thereby enhancing extension reach and mitigating security risks associated with in-person visits.

According to Abdullahi, “The platform is accessible in multiple languages, including English, Pidgin, Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo to ensure inclusivity for farmers across diverse linguistic backgrounds.”

“With NEEP, farmers will be able to send in their queries and receive real-time responses, while extension agents will have a comprehensive database of agricultural knowledge at their disposal,” he noted.

According to the minister, “The use of a digital platform is designed to help us upscale our outreach to Nigerian farmers, this is not going to be a static platform; it’s going to be a very dynamic, robust, engaging virtual platform.”

He said, “The launch of NEEP aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda for national food security. It is our hope that NEEP, as the master online extension agent of Nigerians, will serve the purpose of the Nigerian farmers, so that the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu for national food security can be achieved.”

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ByRuth Tene Natsa

Ruth Tene, Assistant Editor, Agric/Solid Minerals/INEC Ruth Tene is an award-winning journalist with over 15 years experience in developmental reporting across several newsrooms, as a reporter, editor and other managerial roles. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism from the University of Maiduguri among several other certifications She has attended several trainings and certifications both locally and internationally and has been recognized for her impactful work in humanitarian reporting, receiving the Gold Award for Humanitarian Services from the Amazing Grace Foundation. She is also a recipient of the Home Alliance Fellowship, reflecting her commitment to fostering a more humane, safer and more sustainable planet. An active member of professional journalism bodies, Ruth is affiliated with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), and the Agricultural Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ACAN), where she continues to advocate for excellence, ethical reporting, and development-focused journalism.