Nigeria initiates agricultural law overhaul and extension service reforms

The Nigerian Federal Government has entered the second phase of a comprehensive review of its agricultural laws. This initiative aims to replace obsolete provisions with a modern legal framework designed to promote food sovereignty, sustainable agriculture, and agribusiness-led economic growth. The review process follows an initial diagnostic phase that identified regulatory gaps, overlapping mandates, and a lack of alignment with modern realities such as climate change, mechanization, and agricultural technology.

In a parallel effort to modernize the sector, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, has advocated for a shift toward a demand-driven agricultural extension model. Moving away from traditional supply-driven systems, this approach seeks to provide farmers with verified, market-specific information through certified extension agents. The goal is to build trust and integrity within the agricultural information infrastructure while mitigating risks such as information overload and the potential for inaccurate data generated by artificial intelligence.