Reform Bill: ARCN proposes research funding from 3% agric import duty

The Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) has proposed the establishment of National Agricultural Research and Extension Fund, that will ensure payment of 3 per cent import duty on agricultural for research funding.
The ARCN Acting Executive Secretary, Mr Saidu Madagwa, stated this on Saturday, in Abuja during the Innovation and Leadership Clinic For Agripreneurs organised by PRI Global Ventures Limited at ARCN.


Madagwa who was represented by the director, Livestock Department, Dr. Kidda Danjuma, said agricultural research and extension are constrained by funding gaps which are often times inadequate. 
He said the inability of research institutes to commercialise viable technologies has led to the inability of the end users to derive benefit from such technologies, in view of these various challenges. The ARCN reform bill seeks to address issues which include establishment of a National Agricultural Research and Extension Fund which will be applied in financing research and extension as part of the core function of the reform while personnel, overhead and capital will continue to be provided for in the Appropriation Act.


He urged the government to discourage importation of agricultural produce by increasing tariffs on such goods and services.
He said the reform bill will resuscitate competitive agricultural research grant scheme, where institutions compete for research grants from the federal government. “This has been in place for some time, but now is on hold. The institutions submit research proposals and the best are selected and funded.
“The reform will enable the NARIs to establish spin-off companies in partnership with the private sector. These companies will take up the challenges of commercialisation of research technologies developed by the institutes. That will also ameliorate problem of funding because profits are plough back into research activities. Some NARIs have been selected as test pilots for that,” he said.


He said there was need to strengthen middle level manpower, which is obtained in the federal Colleges of Agriculture, and to be extended to training of Agripreneurs. The objective is to make students or Agripreneurs knowledgeable in technical subject matter areas and be practical in handling farm situations such that they are capable of operating and managing large scale farm enterprise. Training in key and emerging extension methodologies such as e-extension techniques, adopted villages and innovation platforms among others to be encouraged.
“There will be introduction of intellectual property right and enforcement. This is to ensure IRP/IPP receives institutional attention with full legal backing to promote innovations. The need to transform ARCN from being a Research Coordinating Council  to a Managing Research Council. And as a managing Counc, all the NARIs and FCAs should become component part if ARCN and all the staff would become staff of ARCN. Presently, all the three components are standing alone, bit coordinated by ARCN.


“There is the need for the reform of the research funding system towards greater financial control. Allocation of funds to ARCN should be direct through a line item vote in the National Budget. Funding of research and extension should be both statutory and competitive,” he said.
The executive secretary also call for the establishment of Technology Transfer Centres in all local government area. He said the Agricultural Research Technology and Innovation Transfer Centre will be responsible for transfer of new technologies, trials demonstrations, training of Apripreneurs and extension agents, soil testing for farmers, vocational training among other activities.


He said agricultural technology has been a primary factor contributing to increase in farm productivity in developing countries over the past decades. “Agricultural growth is directly related to increase in agricultural productivity, this in turn is driven by investment in agriculture research and technology dissemination. We therefore have no option but to invest in integrated Agricultural Research for Development to have a robust diversified economy,” he said.

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