The federal government has trained 20 extension agents on the Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (SHEP) project in Oyo State, who would in turn assist farmers in getting maximum income for their labour.

The SHEP project is a market-oriented agriculture concept introduced to smallholder horticultural farmers in Nigeria in 2017 by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The aim of the project is to equip farmers to be acquainted with current market trends through regular surveys before embarking on production and changing their mindset from “Grow and Sell” to “Grow to Sell”.

This is to transform them from indigent farmers to agripreneurs to enhance their income and improve their livelihood.

Speaking at the event on Friday in Ibadan, the director of the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Service, Olawumi Ayodele, said that 20 extension agents and lead farmers were selected for the training.

He said that the extension agents from the Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security office in the state were expected to impart the knowledge acquired to farmers in the state.

The director, represented by the chief agriculture officer of FDAES, Wale Kayode, said that the training had been conducted in 18 states since its inception and that 237 extension agents had been trained.

“Oyo State will be the 19th state in Nigeria that the SHEP project has been taken to. With the training of 20 extension agents in Oyo State, we now have 257 trained extension agents nationwide.

“Over 23,000 smallholder horticultural farmers have benefited from implementing the SHEP project to enhance their income and their livelihood,” he said.

Mr Ayodele said that most smallholder horticulture farmers were often eager to sell their farm produce at cheaper rates because of the perishable nature of horticultural crops due to inadequate knowledge of market surveys and trends.

The director said that the aim of the SHEP project was to ensure farmers understand the market trend in order to plan properly towards that period, determine the price and increase their income and livelihood.

He said that the majority of horticultural farmers in states where the SHEP project had been taken to and who were using it were making tremendous profits from their farm produce.

Mr Ayodele said that the FMAFS intends to have completed SHEP training in all the states in Nigeria by 2027, which is why it has a unit in FDAES, which are master trainers.

“Information is vital; we want farmers to use SHEP knowledge to make a change in their lives and reap the fruits of their labour.

”I always feel for smallholder farmers after planting and harvesting and they are still wallowing in poverty. It doesn’t happen like this in some other countries of the world.

“I urged farmers in Nigeria to try as much as possible to accept SHEP to improve their livelihood,” the director said.

Adekule Adesola, an extension agent who spoke on behalf of her colleagues, said they would educate farmers in the state not just to plant and sell at any price but to first conduct market surveys to identify their buyers and the good price to sell.

(NAN)