The Federal Government has ended a four-decade gap in the evaluation of its agricultural research system, marking a major step toward revitalizing research institutes and colleges of agriculture across the country.

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Aliyu Abdullahi disclosed this at the technical session of the report validation exercise of the NADF Baseline Survey and Needs Assessment of Agricultural Research Institutes and Federal Colleges of Agriculture which ended on Friday.

“The last time any system-wide assessment or evaluation of the National Agricultural Research System was conducted was as a prelude to President Shehu Shagari’s Green Revolution. Since then, no government has deemed it necessary to take a peek into the research institute system to transform them until this very government of President Bola Tinubu,” he stated.

The minister commended the National Agricultural Development Fund for its role in spearheading the project.

“I want to thank you most sincerely for that and for NADF also providing the necessary tactics to follow your words to ensure that this exercise is completed,” he said. He further emphasized the urgent need to upgrade research and training infrastructure,” he said.

He added that “agricultural research is the engine of growth of the agricultural sector.”

The Executive Secretary of NADF, Mohammed Ibrahim, explained the scope of the evaluation, which covered 16 agricultural research institutes and 17 colleges of agriculture.

“What we have done is that around September last year, we constituted a consultancy team to do a baseline survey and a needs assessment, so that we will be able to know their strengths, their constraints, their gaps, their challenges, and of course their opportunities,” he said.

Ibrahim described the condition of the research institutes as “very, very deplorable,” blaming years of neglect.

“There is a lot that needs to be done. These institutes and colleges of agriculture have been neglected for years and years,” he lamented.

However, he expressed optimism about the renewed government commitment, stating, “We are now here, thanks to the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We want to have a very tailored approach.”

In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, Prof Garba Sharubutu, described the assessment as a “rebirth of the agricultural research system in this country.”

He added, “Before Tinubu’s administration, for over 25 years, no thought, no thinking, no attempt was made to touch on the substance of the agricultural research system.”

Executive Director of the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute and also the Chairman of the Committee of Directors of Research Institute, Prof Lateef Sanni underscored the importance of the initiative in addressing Nigeria’s food security challenges.

“The ability of our research institutes to generate and transfer innovative technologies for use by stakeholders across the agricultural value chain is critical to achieving food security, agro-industrialization, and poverty alleviation,” he said.

He further stressed that “without investment in research, innovation, and development, we cannot expect significant progress in agriculture.”

The findings of the needs assessment highlighted the urgent need for increased funding and infrastructure upgrades.

“The newest tools and equipment in our research institutes were procured decades ago and are now obsolete,” the Minister noted.

“However, under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, funding to these institutions has increased, though the budgetary provision remains inadequate to address the infrastructure deficit,” he added.

As part of the reform process, NADF has entered into partnerships to improve research facilities.

“We have already signed an MOU with one of Africa’s largest renewable power companies to provide constant power to these institutes. We are also in discussions with an internet service provider to ensure that these institutions have reliable connectivity,” Ibrahim disclosed.

Sanni reinforced the importance of aligning Nigeria’s agricultural research with global best practices.

“We are studying successful agricultural research models in Brazil and India to see how we can adapt them to our context,” he said.