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Professor Lawrence Alegwu Ega
Professor Lawrence Alegwu Ega is a rural sociologist and agricultural extension expert. He was at the Institute for Agricultural Research/Faculty of Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria as a researcher and Lecturer from 1974 to 1997. He rose through the rank to the position of Professor of Rural Sociology and Agricultural Extension in 1990. He was Deputy Dean Faculty of Agriculture 1987-89, Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (1991-94), Deputy Director, Extension (1994-97) and Coordinator of the World Bank-assisted National Agricultural Research Project (1991-97). After leaving ABU, he was appointed as a Professor of Sociology at Benue State University, Makurdi from 1998 to 2016.

Early life, education and Career
Ega was born in 1948 in rural Nigeria. After his primary education, he attended Government Secondary School Katsina Ala, and Government College Keffi (Higher School). He graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1973 with BSc Sociology degree (Second Class Upper). He joined the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology as an Assistant Research Fellow/Lecturer in 1974. He subsequently won Ford Foundation scholarship and did postgraduate studies at the prestigious Ivy League institution, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA. He obtained MSc. and PhD in 1978 and 1980, respectively, specializing in Rural Sociology, Agricultural Extension and Development Sociology.

Educational honours won by him included National State Merit Award, 1971, Ford Foundation fellowship 1976, Wageningen Agricultural University Fellowship, 1990, African-American Institute Fellowship 1990 and Cornell University sabbatical leave grant 1990.

Ega has over forty (40) years post-doctoral experience in teaching, research and consultancy. He has graduated many M.Sc. and PhD candidates many of whom are now Professors.

Ega is very active in many professional associations. He is a member of the Council of the International Rural Sociology Association where he was a Council member as the African representative from 1992 to 2000; Member and past Vice-President of the Nigerian Rural Sociological Association; Member of the Nigerian Agricultural Extension Society; and Member of the Nigerian Sociological and Anthropological Association.

He served/chaired many important university committees and boards too numerous to mention. He also served on other important committees outside the university. To cite a few, he was a member of the core team for the formulation of the Nigeria National Agricultural Investment Plan in 2010;  the team Leader for the Formulation and Appraisal of the Expansion Phase of the National Programme for Food Security 2004-2006, Committee for the Preparation of the Benue Advance Plan May 2003; Committee for the translation of the Benue Advance Plan into Working Document in 2004, Cotton Revolving Fund Management Committee set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria, 1993 to 1999; Governing Council of Akperan Orshi College of Agriculture, Yandev 1994 to 1999; Board of Directors of Hawaiian Agronomic Nigeria Ltd., 1981 to 1996; member Board of Governors of the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, 1993 to 1994; member of the committee set up by the Benue State Government to examine the feasibility of establishing Benue State Integrated Rural Development Agency, 1992; Steering Committee on Apa State University and Chairman of the Board of Ugboju Micro-Finance Bank Limited 2002-2019.

Expertise
Ega is a subject matter specialist on land tenure and natural resource management, agricultural extension and agricultural and rural development strategies. He has been a consultant for over four decades for the Government of Nigeria and international organizations such as the World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, United State Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Development Programme United Nations Office for Project Services (UNDP), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and UNOPS. He was a member of the Consortium of the Chemonics’s Promoting Pro-Poor Opportunities for Commodity Marketing (PrOpCom) in Nigeria.

Key assignments included serving as the Lead consultant to the FAO/FGN on the formulation on the Expansion phase of the National Programme for Food Security and subsequently as the Head of community driven development Programme 2008-2012. He also served as a member of numerous FAO and IFAD project formulation and appraisal missions in Nigeria. He was a member of the team that produced the document in 1978 for the establishment of the administrative system for the Federal Capital Territory.

Direct involvement in development projects
Ega retired from mainstream academic work in 2016 and now works part time in the company he had set up to undertake consultancy in all aspects of agriculture, rural development and natural resource management. The company’s areas of competence include agricultural extension support services, farm management and economic analysis of rural enterprises, crop performance evaluation, farming system studies, enterprise planning and management, technology adoption facilitation, group dynamics and farmer mobilization, group formation and group management, credit acquisition and utilization, project formulation and impact assessment of project interventions, etc.

The company has been providing technical support to national and international organizations. For instance, it supported USAID-funded Maximizing Agricultural Revenue in Key Enterprises and Targeted Sites (MARKETS I and II) rice and soybean value chains in Benue State from 2006 to 2017. Egalf also provided technical and management support aimed at helping farmers and processors to respond to market needs of the end-users in the rice and cassava value chains in Benue and Taraba states from 2015 to 2021.

Working with government and development agencies, the company provides technical assistance (extension, business and market information assistance) to enable the targeted beneficiaries to increase productivity and encourage various stakeholders to respond to market needs of end-users. This includes providing training in farming skills and setting up of farmer-managed demonstration plots which served as farmer field business schools (FFBS) and avenues for introducing new technologies, improved practices and new ways of doing things.

The technical support to the farmers under these programs promoted adherence to the use of approved package of practices (POP) and agronomic practices for the production of the targeted crops. This led to good results in terms of increased productivity and production of high-quality paddy. Crop yields increased by over 100% over what the farmers were obtaining with their own practices. Rice yield of farmers supported by the program was on the average over 5.6MT/ha (up to 7MT/ha for some farmers), cassava 30MT/ha and soybean 1.5MT/ha.

Numerous testimonies from the farmers attest to the resultant increased yield and income, increased investment and household consumption, poverty alleviation, and expanded employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled labor, especially youth and women.

The company also engages in capacity building of farmer organizations (FOs) using targeted training, sensitization, advocacy, mentoring, attitudinal change and appropriate technical advisory support. This involves sensitizing farmer organizations and re-orientating them to be structured as entities that provide leadership and service to their members. It also involved promoting and coordinating the establishment of sustainable, gender sensitive and democratic farmer organizations.

These activities have transformed many farmer organizations that were moribund to active ones that hold regular meetings, have savings, keep record and elect leaders that take responsibilities to meet their needs. The company also fosters youth and women inclusion in groups and leadership and enhances the capacity of groups to develop business plan, transact business with financial institutions and gain capacity to attract financial resources.

PUBLICATIONS
He has over 100 publications in the field of agriculture and rural development including books, journal articles, conference proceedings and technical papers. Main thrust of his publications are land tenure practices and policy, agricultural extension practices/strategies and administration, agricultural research systems and agriculture and rural development policies.

His CV can be found here