Extension Farmer-Input Linkage System (REFILS) by Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) in Nigeria, 1986-2011

Abstract

One of the most debilitating problems of research and policy in Agricultural Extension in developing countries like Nigeria is the rate at which available research results are lost. There is a lag of 50 years between discovery of innovations and their effective utilization in the field. The above scenario implicates weak research farmer linkage and exposes inefficient extension service which prevailed in pre and post independent Nigeria before the establishment of a state wide Agricultural development Project (ADPs) in 1986. An active and virile sustainable ADPs anchored on the Research-Extension farmer-input linkage system (REFILS) is a vibrant and veritable extension instrument for effective technology transfer by linking research to policy and development in Nigeria. The characteristics of an efficient and effective agricultural services examined includes ; use of subject matter specialists, motivation of staff, cost effective extension approaches, defined targets or clientele, flexibility and an efficient internal monitoring and evaluation component. Despite identified constraints and the prevailing economic realities, the ADPs REFILS approach has proved an integrated development model in linking research to policy and development in Nigerian agribusiness. This paper examined the REFILS techniques and the strategies that worked for their effectiveness such as the research component, the NGOs input linkage and technology transfer in agricultural business among others.