The Katsina government has converted 722 local government workers to agricultural extension service officers to support farmers with proper information to enhance agricultural production.
Governor Dikko Radda disclosed this at a two-day training organised for the workers on Tuesday in Katsina.
He said the decision became imperative to address the manpower shortage in agricultural extension services, adding that as of May 2023, the state had only 72 extension workers.
The governor said the new initiative would ensure that each of the 361 political wards across the 34 local government areas of the state has fewer than two agricultural extension service workers.
“I believe extension service is a game-changer for any agricultural development,” he said, adding that the conversion was to strengthen extension services and ensure massive food production.
“They will be trained at their respective senatorial zones and local government areas to ensure that they master the concept very well.”
He also mentioned that each of them would be given a motorcycle for easy movement within their area of responsibility.
He assured farmers the government would provide them with improved seeds and other inputs to boost productivity.
The commissioner of agriculture and livestock development, Ahmed Bakori, said the government was determined to transform agricultural activities to attain food sufficiency and security and address the current insecurity.
The commissioner said that the extension workers’ responsibility was to deliver the latest scientific information regarding farming directly to farmers, which would trigger growth in agriculture.
The managing director of Katsina State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority, Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim, asked the participants to pay attention to what they were taught to properly disseminate to farmers.
He also urged farmers to cooperate with the extension service workers for the overall development of agriculture in the state.
