Agriculture • Created November 18, 2015 21:19

Lack of legislated policies, bane of agriculture — Prof. Arokoyo

Lack of legislated policies over the years has been identified as the greatest problem of agriculture in Nigeria. Featuring as a guest on ‘Radio Links’, a Radio Nigeria programme recently in Abuja, Prof. Tunji Arokoyo of the National Agricultural Extension, Research and Liaison Services (NAERLS) at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (ABU), said the situation […]

Lack of legislated policies, bane of agriculture — Prof. Arokoyo
Lack of legislated policies, bane of agriculture — Prof. Arokoyo

Lack of legislated policies over the years has been identified as the greatest problem of agriculture in Nigeria.
Featuring as a guest on ‘Radio Links’, a Radio Nigeria programme recently in Abuja, Prof. Tunji Arokoyo of the National Agricultural Extension, Research and Liaison Services (NAERLS) at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (ABU), said the situation was responsible for policy inconsistencies that have bedevilled the sector for a long time.
“The greatest problem of agriculture in this country is lack of legislated policies. Everybody goes about doing whatever he or she wants. We say we want to double maize production, and then another big man or politician wants yellow maize. This leads to policy inconsistencies,” he stated.
Prof. Arokoyo pointed out that legislated policies provide blueprint for development of the agricultural sector and stipulates roles and responsibilities for all stakeholders.
He decried poor funding of agriculture and urged the federal government to dedicate 10 per cent of its annual budget to the sector as agreed in the Maputo Declaration of 2003.
Similarly, Prof. Garba Sharubutu, Provost, College of Animal and Husbandry Technology, Jos, Plateau State, also speaking on the programme, lamented poor research funding in the country. He called on the federal government to empower the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) to enable it perform its duties properly.
He frowned at the current situation where there is no data on agriculture graduates in the country and urged the government to develop a database of the graduates for tracking and proper planning on employment, among others.
 

Tags