Michelle Corzine, the USAID Nigeria Director, announced how the organization’s private-sector extension delivery model played a pivotal role in enabling Nigerian farmers to achieve a remarkable $1.2 billion in sales.
Ms. Corzine shared this remarkable success story at the ongoing Sixth Africa-Wide Agricultural Extension Week on Monday. The Nigerian agricultural extension service delivery system has long grappled with challenges in achieving food security and economic growth, primarily due to the significant extension agent-to-farmer gap.
Currently, the estimate stands at one extension agent for every 10,000 farmers, which severely limits the effectiveness of extension services, especially for smallholder farmers seeking to boost productivity.
To address this critical gap, USAID, in collaboration with its partners, implemented a private-sector extension delivery model. This innovative approach involved engaging nearly three hundred micro, small, and medium enterprises, which, in turn, provided extension messaging to more than six hundred thousand smallholder farmers.
The results were nothing short of extraordinary, as participating farmers realized an astounding $1.2 billion in sales due to the messaging and support they received from private sector extension services.
Notably, the private-sector delivery model also generated over five hundred job opportunities for the youth, contributing to economic growth and job creation in Nigeria. Over the past five years, USAID’s Feed the Future initiative, in partnership with the Nigerian government and the private sector, has worked tirelessly to enhance agricultural productivity, expand markets, bolster household resilience, and improve nutrition.
The commitment of the United States government, through USAID, to collaborate with the Nigerian government in catalyzing transformational shifts necessary for advancing agricultural development and stimulating economic growth is clear.
The success of the private-sector extension model demonstrates the potential for innovative solutions to bridge critical gaps in the agricultural sector, paving the way for a more prosperous and food-secure Nigeria.
