School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology

School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology

The School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, SAAT, was one of the pioneering Schools established when the University took off in 1982.

The School

The School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology (SAAT) is foremost among the six Schools of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Nigeria. Established in 1982, as one of the pioneering Schools, it has programmes in agricultural and natural resources management. The School fosters the exchange, dissemination and learning of basic and advanced technological knowledge and expertise, to meet the need for well-trained personnel in the private and public sector of the national economy. SAAT is situated within the University campus at Akure, in Ondo State which is an agrarian State and one of the major ‘Food Baskets’ of Nigeria.

The School which started with two Professors and nine other Lecturers now has 52 Professors and 111 other academic staff, 51 Administrative and Professional staff and 49 staff at the Teaching and Research Farm. At inception, there were 20 students, but currently, SAAT has an enrolment figure of 2382 undergraduates. There are also postgraduate Diploma, Masters and Doctorate Degree students. The School has produced outstanding graduates from more than ten countries who now hold key positions throughout West Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. Some of the graduates have been absorbed into the School as Lecturers, and have become Professors.

The School has a Teaching and Research Farm set on an agricultural landscape. The University land along Akure/Owo Road is planned for commercial agriculture and forest plantation for teaching, research and industrial development of the University in the nearest future.

MISSION Within the broad mission of the University, the academic programme of the School were specially packaged to:

(i) Provide education in the Science and Technology of Agriculture that will be functional and of academic excellence. Such education shall be at the sub-degree and higher degree levels.

(ii) Provide continuing opportunities for Agriculturists – Foresters, Farm Management and Agricultural Extension experts, Fisheries and Wildlife, Crop, Livestock and Animal Health specialists – and related disciplines in their areas of expertise and to make such training relevant to national needs.

(iii) Improve agricultural potentials of local farmers by providing:

(i) Extension services that will bring the results of research to their use and benefit; (ii) Opportunities for visits by local farmers to teaching, research and commercial farms of the university for mutual and beneficial interaction; (iii) Relevant short-term training for those involved in production and management of farm products for the acquisition of techniques for improved production.

(iv) Provide opportunities for goal-oriented research in Agriculture and Agricultural Technology relevant to the country’s need in general and local needs in particular.