When there is disconnect between research and policy, high quality research-based information can be produced without impact on policy dialogue and action.

Malnutrition is widespread in Nigeria, especially in rural areas. Nigerians are vulnerable to chronic food shortages, erratic supply, poor quality food, and fluctuating food prices.

The substantial differences in agricultural productivity between Asia and Africa can be largely explained by differences in use of modern inputs.

An agricultural system consists of production, processing, storage, marketing, extension, research, and training.

In Nigeria, conventional financial institutions serve only about 35 percent of the active population, and the poor, especially women, have limited access to financial services.

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) includes a target of 6 percent annual agricultural growth, supported by the allocation of at least 10 percent of the national budget for agriculture.

Designing agricultural strategies requires an understanding of the options for dealing with growth in the sector, its impact on targeted beneficiaries, and the investment required to achieve the growth.

Public-private sector dialogue in Nigeria's economic policymaking process is fragmented and unstructured. As a result, the private sector has moved to organize itself around trade groups, which have the tendency to seek self-interest.

Available evidence suggests an ageing farming population in Nigeria, with an average age of 47 years and life expectancy at 47-50 years in 2008 (NBS 2008, Oboh et al., 2009).

Despite many efforts to ease Nigerian farmers' access to quality and affordable fertilizer, it remains a key challenge for Nigerian agricultural policymakers As a result, the Nigerian government is experimenting with implementing a fertilizer

Nigeria's economic performance since 2002 has improved, with growth averaging about 7.3 percent during 2002-07 (Global insight 2008).

Low fertilizer use is one of the many reasons for low agricultural productivity in Nigeria.

Farmer cooperatives are viewed as mechanisms to help improve the marketing environment for poor rural farmers faced with limited and uncertain consumer demand for the goods they produce.

The important role of credit in agricultural enterprise development and sustainability has prompted the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to establish credit schemes such as the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS) and Agricultural Credit

Small-scale private irrigation (SPRI) schemes make up much of the irrigated areas in Nigeria. These irrigated areas, though, are only about three percent of the cultivated area in the country.

Much of Nigeria's recent economic growth can be attributed to its non-oil economy-primarily agriculture.

Malnutrition rates among children 0 to 36 months and women of reproductive age in Nigeria are high and vary significantly across rural urban locations, geopolitical zones, and agro-ecological zones, thereby constituting a significant public health

The timely availability of seeds at planting time is considered one of the important factors for faster improved seed adoption in Nigeria.

Around the world, it is recognized in agricultural production and processing that energy (farm power) is perhaps the second most important input besides land).