X‑ray of agricultural development programme and food security in Nigeria

Abstract

Background The level of food security in Ogun State particularly in the rural areas is below the threshold globally as explained by Adekoya. The female-headed households in Ogun State spend more money on the purchase of food items vis-à-vis the male-headed household caused by poor agricultural practices and government highhandedness. Sequel to this problem that the Ogun State government initiated OGADEP in 1986 to provide virile extension and technical services to the farmers with the introduction of many agricultural strategies which inter alia include training of staff, field visits, promotion of dry season food production to enhance food security in the State. To achieve this feat, several mechanisms are also put in place to make the strategies function effectively and efficiently but despite these, food security is still a challenge in Ogun State. Sequel to the backdrop the study seeks to determine the contribution of training of extension agents to food security, examine the contribution of field visit to food security and evaluate the promotion of dry season food production to food security. Results The study gathered data through primary and secondary sources, such as questionnaires, interviews, journals, government gazettes, etc. A Partial Least Square was employed in analyzing the data. The study revealed that training of extension agents, field visit and the promotion of dry season food production did not contribute significantly to food security in Ogun State due to ways the programme is handled. Conclusions Though Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme (OGADEP) initiated strategies and mechanisms that will help to achieve sufficiency in food production. Lack of wider coverage is a bane to achieving feats in agricultural development coupled with poor execution of policy. The implication of this is that many farmers end up practicing agriculture traditionally. The study made the recommendation that government should commit more efforts toward the programme to achieve its mission.