Agric training institutes charged on food security

Management Development Institutes (MDIs) on agriculture in the country have been charged to adjust to the present transformational imperatives by using their management training courses to ensure food security.Delivering the 15th annual lecture of the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), titled: The Agricultural and Rural Development Transformation Agenda of Nigeria, in Ilorin on Thursday, a foremost Jamaican agricultural expert, Dr. Garnet Brown, said MDIs must become flexible and visionary in their modes of operation.'As such, they can no longer confine their pre-occupations with the formulation and delivery of management development courses. Alongside this traditional important activity, and perhaps as a fundamental substratum to their maintenance of societal relevance, they should of necessity expand their spheres of influence to encompass critical social, economic, planning, and behavioural issues which impact on the well being and stability of their home countries,' he said.Dr Brown, who is the pioneer Director General of the ARMTI, also said that management development institutes should forge public/private sector collaboration in addressing agricultural and rural development issues, adding that their roles in that regard should be primarily catalystic by bringing stakeholders together to facilitate dialogue.He also said that Nigerian MDIs should seek to develop a culture of cooperation and networking with 'sister' institutes nationally and internationally to reap the benefits of cross fertilisation.'In this connection, co-operation with institutions of other developing countries could prove to be most productive due to similarity of circumstances,' he said.The agricultural expert, who said that MDIs and their leadership must be proactive in responding to the economic and social realities of the environments in which they operate, added that they should also play a greater role in exerting influence on policy research and development for the agricultural and rural development sector in Nigeria.'This may involve the establishment of a small but effective policy unit in their establishments. In this regard, inter-agency networking of professional staff between institutions could prove to be cost-effective,' he said.He also said that MDIs should be able to influence those who attent the various courses they offer, to return to their respective organisations as transformational leaders, practitioners and evangelists.
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