Government Agricultural Intervention Programmes and Sustainable Farming Practices in North-Central Nigeria: An Integrated Conceptual Review

Abstract

Governments in developing countries often include agricultural intervention programmes in their agricultural development strategies to combat the problems of food insecurity, rural poverty, low agricultural productivity and environmental degradation. The Nigerian government has, for some time now, introduced a plethora of agricultural intervention programmes to enable accessibility of amenities and facilities such as agricultural inputs, credit, extension services, farm mechanization, modern farm technologies, and so on to farmers at different operational levels, to counter these challenges. Evidence on the long-term efficacy of these interventions on sustainable farming practices is scattered. Most of the studies available on record in respect to the performance of a government’s intervention can be described at a general level. Also, the studies show an increase in productivity, change in beneficiary coverage, adoption of technology, and farm income. Furthermore, these are conventional indicators. Assessment of the outcomes of these programmes in relation to sustainability has received relatively less attention. This manuscript offers an analysis of government agricultural interventions and sustainable agricultural practices related to North-Central Nigeria. Based on current conceptual, theoretical, and empirical literature, the study critically synthesizes existing knowledge and spotlights the major trends, recurrent limitations, and outstanding conceptual issues. Review of the document reveals that government intervention enhances productivity, adoption, climate preparedness, and rural livelihood; however, the literature tests these constructs in isolation, resulting in a fragmented explication of intervention efficacy. According to the literature, intervention effectiveness is commonly measured by productivity-based indicators like crop productivity, pollution level, groundwater level, soil health, etc. It does not take into account the various intermediary variables through which agricultural interventions have an asymmetrical, multi-faceted effect. Agricultural Intervention Sustainability Nexus (AISN) is integrated as a conceptual perspective explaining the dynamic relationships among institutional effectiveness, innovation and knowledge transfer, sustainable farming practices, livelihood improvement, and sustainable agricultural transformation. Building upon this nexus, the paper further proposes the Sustainable Agricultural Intervention Effectiveness Framework (SAIEF) as a multidimensional framework for evaluating intervention effectiveness beyond traditional productivity-based indicators. Authorities implementing government agricultural interventions, such as fertilizer subsidies, to improve productivity are finding that outputs are not coming through, and that high fertilizer use is not environmentally sustainable. Assessment of government agricultural interventions must go beyond the output they deliver, as it must focus on whether they enable sustained uptake of sustainable farming practices through resilient institutions, dynamism of innovation, solid livelihoods and environmentally sustainable agricultural systems. According to the frameworks, policymakers, development practitioners and researchers will find useful guidance in the design, implementation and evaluation of the appropriate agricultural interventions to encourage sustainable agricultural transformation in Nigeria and other developing economies.