Effect Of The National Programme On Food Security On Food Production
[A CASE STUDY OF ANAMBRA STATE]

Then followed General Ibrahim Babangida’s Directorate of Food, Roads Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI). The DFRRI was planned as a comprehensive integrated food production and rural development agenda across all the states of the federation. The decree that established it charged it with the following functions:
1.    The mobilization of local communities for sustained rural development activities;
2.    Production of priority food and fibre requirements all over the country without any hindrance;
3.    Support for national rural feeder road network programme;
4.    support for a national rural water supply programme;
5.    Support for an information gathering, maintenance and evaluation of culture in rural development programme;
6.    Support for rural electrification and the provision of other infrastructure.
By the time the originator of the DFRRI stepped down in August 1993, the programme had gulped down over N 1.9 billion without achieving the desired result. And as soon as Babangida left office the programme died a natural death.
The National Food Production Project (NAFPP) is yet another scheme aimed at increasing food production. It was created in 1973 by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. The NAFPP was based on cooperatives with the following objectives:
1.    To accelerate and increase food production through the adoption of improved packages of production technology;
2.    To speed up the transfer of research results to farmers;
3.    To promote cooperation among various research and production agencies;
4.    To pursue intensive and extensive cultivation.
The NAFPP recorded significant success. Its major success as pointed out by Chilokwu (2006) was that it le|d to an appreciable improvement in food production in the 70’s and above all, it laid a good foundation for an effective research-extension-farmer linkage. Unfortunately, the fate of other such programme befell it too. It has gone moribund since the administration that introduced it left office.
The Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) is another programme also aimed at food security. It started between 1973 and 1974 with pilot schemes at Funtua, Bida and Gusau. After the pilot scheme experiment, the programme was extended to all the states of the Federation. The ADP operates as parastatals of each state Ministry of Agriculture. The programme is still very much in existence up till now. The ADP has been described as the boldest attempt by the Federal Government of Nigeria to tackle multi-faceted problems of agricultural and rural development (Anyichi 2003). The ADP system is designed to improve the traditional systems of production and raise the productivity, income and standard of living of the small-scale farmers who provide over 90% of gross domestic food supplies (Olayemi, 1980)
The system is based on the premise that only combined efforts applied simultaneously can reduce the problems of low productivity of farmers due largely to limited access to credit, lack of improved inputs and technologies, and inadequate rural infrastructures. In other words, the ADP strategy is an integrated approach to agriculture and rural development. While the ADP system is largely not involved in direct food production, its main mandate is the creation of enabling environment for small-holder farmer to produce efficiently. The objectives of the ADPs as stated in Chilokwu (2005) are;
1.    To increase crop production.
2.    To increase rural income and hence the standard of living of the rural dwellers.
To achieve this primary objective, the ADPs have over the years adopted the following strategies as highlighted in Anyichi (1995);
i.    a reorganised and revitalised extension system adequately linked to a research system;
ii.    conduct of On-Farm Adaptive Research (OFAR) as a means of developing and validating new technologies before transfer to farmers through the extension system;
iii.    commercial and improved farm input delivery system which includes seed multiplication through outgrower or contract farmer approach;
iv.    establishment of effective linkage between farmers and credit institutions;
v.    construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of rural feeder roads to enhance all-season accessibility of rural farming communities;
vi.    provision of portable water and small-scale irrigation facilities for domestic consumption and dry season farming;
vii.    supporting and encouraging processing, storage and marketing activities of the rural populace;
viii.    incorporation of internal and external monitoring system during project implementation stage which ensures that project remains on course;
ix.    putting in place ADP management unit that is virtually autonomous so as to facilitate timeliness in decision making and project implementation;
x.    tripartite funding arrangement between the World Bank, Federal Government and State Government.