The Federal Government’s commitment to ensure food security in Nigeria through the infusion of emerging technologies in the agricultural sector has necessitated the collaboration between the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Agriculture Development Fund (NADF) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, (MoU) that aims to boost productivity in Agriculture.

The NITDA’s Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, revealed this on Thursday while receiving the NADF Executive Secretary, Muhammed Abu, and his team at the Agency Corporate Headquarter in Abuja for the signing of the MoU.

Inuwa said “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR is big and loud on boosting agriculture to ensure food security and today you cannot talk about boosting agriculture without talking about digital technology. And that is the reason we are here to sign an MoU to see how we can infuse emerging technologies into Agriculture so we can boost productivity in Agriculture.”

He said “Our Minister is quite interested in this as he personally has his own farm where he is doing all these and he started the conversation with you, our teams worked to draft the MoU, both legal teams reviewed the document and today we are here to sign the MoU for immediate implementation.”

“We have started our initiatives around agriculture like the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA), we have a demo farm here in Abuja, and we have been partnering with Universities across the country doing research and Startups to develop technologies and do proof of concepts with the technologies on farmlands,” said Inuwa.

“This year, we gave grants to Startups who have ideas on how to use emerging technologies to boost agriculture. And we are working with some of them in existing farms across the country to demonstrate how technology can boost productivity in that space,” he added.

Speaking at the signing the Executive Secretary of NADF Mohammed Abu Ibrahim remarked that the nexus between Agriculture and Technology cannot be over emphasised, as the agricultural sector is facing some temporary challenges like the issues of funding, climate change, insecurity and many more.

“We have seen interesting technological patterns which have given a lot of impact and  optimisation in our sector like AI, WAV, IoT and many more and we feel like without optimising agriculture and looking at it from this evidence-based perspective as a Fund we may not achieve much.

“There is no denying the fact that empirical evidence, especially data backed evidence, would help us to allocate our limited resources better. So, in our stride to see that we are doing a lot more with less we have decided to come in and especially be part of monitoring and evaluation which will eventually direct us towards achieving that mantra of ‘doing more with less’ and that is why we are here.”

He said the Fund is hopeful that this will be the first of many more of such collaborations.

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With over 70 million arable land enough to feed not just Nigeria but Africa, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said that the Agency is willing to partner with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and relevant stakeholders to tackle food insecurity in Nigeria.

The Director General made this known while receiving representatives from USAID led by Josh Woodard Senior Digital Advisor Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security, at the Agency’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja. The purpose of the visit was to have a rapid landscape assessment of digital agriculture in Nigeria and partner with NITDA.

Inuwa said, “One of President Tinubu’s areas of focus is boosting agriculture to achieve food security, and at NITDA we were set up to develop the National IT Policy, and IT policy is not just about developing IT but developing IT to boost productivity across all critical sectors including agriculture.”

“That is why we do a lot of initiatives in trying to see how we can build an agriculture Strategy with IT in mind and make it a more attractive business to the younger generation,” he added.

Inuwa stated that NITDA has identified six emerging technologies, that will aid in achieving food security in Nigeria. He said “We have an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy co-creation workshop going on, which started on Monday, where we are working with the ecosystem to develop a strategy on how to use AI in agriculture, health, education, and so on.

“We are working on how to use the Internet of Things, (IoT) in agriculture for crop monitoring, soil monitoring, precision irrigation, climate monitoring livestock monitoring, and so on.”

“We are working using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, (UAVs) to facilitate pest detection, water control, yield assessment, and so on.”

We are working on using Blockchain for the traceability of farm produce from farm to store, record keeping, quality assurance, and so on.”

“We are working on using Robotics to enhance productivity in agriculture in terms of automation of physical farm processing like weeding, harvesting, tractors, and many more.”

“For additive manufacturing, we are working on using it to upscale our manufacturing industry in the Agricultural sector for the production of crop and soil monitoring devices, customised equipment, and many more.”

Speaking on NITDA’s commitment to ensuring that Nigeria develops its digital offering in-country, Inuwa noted that the Nigeria Startup Portal was launched during the week with over 12,000 startups registered so far. He said they would be labelled after which they could have access to incentives.

Earlier Josh Woodard, USAID said that the meeting was to enable USAID to have first-hand information on what Nigeria is doing in digital farming to see how to enhance the integration of digital technology in agriculture.

He revealed that USAID recently launched the Global Food Security Strategy for Nigeria (2024 -2029) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

He said, “We want to work with all stakeholders to ensure food security in Nigeria.”

The meeting discussed the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) in relation to the success stories the initiative has recorded, the expansion strategy it is adopting and call on the USAID to be part of the initiatives.

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In order to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for development (ICT4D) in the Agricultural Sector and make access to digital technologies more equitable, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE has restated the Agency’s commitment to ensure sustainable solutions for smallholder farmers in the country.

Inuwa reiterated this during a working visit on him by the Country Director, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Mrs Dede Ekoue.

The Director-General maintained that NITDA has continued to undertake several initiatives towards supporting smallholder farmers and enhancing productivity within the farming sector.

“It is part of our mandate to improve National Food Security through Information Technology (I.T) because globally today, I.T is regarded as one of, if not the best tool(s) when it comes to enhancing productivity in Agriculture, as it is evident, how Smart Agriculture is really increasing food production around the world”.

“We strongly believe that if we in Nigeria embrace this technology, it can be a game changer in the sector”, Inuwa asserted.

Beyond utilising ICT to improve food productivity for subsistence farmers, the DG was also assertive that it will attract the youthful population to take up farming as a business which he said would somewhat retire the narrative that ‘farming is an activity solely for people in suburbs or villages’.

“With technology, you can have a farm at the backyard of your house in the city, you can even explore vertical farming, in developed countries, some do theirs on the rooftop or indoors”.

“So, the technology is available and with the strong belief in our ingenuities, we can do something similar if not better”, Inuwa averred.

While briefing his guests on some of NITDA’s collaborations and efforts in the sector, Inuwa recalled that the Agency had since started a relationship with the Ministry of Agriculture which took off with the development of “Smart Agric Strategy” for them, followed by some initiatives like NAVSA, e.t.c.

“We also collaborate with private sectors, multinational companies and high institutions like Universities, where we leverage on their research centres to create clusters and the ecosystem as well, as we always urge them to come for proof of concept on different technologies”.

“Suffice it to say that we strongly believe in collaboration because we know that the success of digital transformation does not rest on the individual but the collective approach of the ecosystem, and that explains why we always insist on carrying everyone along with us”, the Director-General avowed.

About the partnership request by IFAD for the Agency to participate in its forthcoming policy dialogue, and explore other possible channels/areas to collaborate on, the NITDA Boss appreciated the hand of friendship extended to the Organisation and confirm the Agency’s readiness to come on board, noting that it is NITDA’s culture to partner any individual, group or body that has a viable proposition targeted at adding value to Nigeria and Nigerians.

“It is not only about the policy dialogue, when you are done with that, like the last one we were part of, don’t forget to reach out to us during your capacity building plans because we can benefit from that as well, especially to update the knowledge of our teammates”

“The goal is to expand our horizons and we are already working with Abuja Technology Village to build all these technologies on the farmland we secured, so, this visit will definitely help us know how to go about that”, Inuwa said.

He assured the IFAD team of NITDA’s unflinching resolve to deepen the partnership between the two organisations and welcome other bodies they highlighted would be brought in.

The Country Director, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Mrs Dede Ekoue who led the delegation, earlier informed NITDA’s Management team that the visit was to strengthen the existing partnership and thank the Agency for its support at different times it was sought after, particularly for the Multi-stakeholder Dialogue on ICT4D for smallholder farmers that was held in May, 2023.

Mrs Ekoue went on to explain that the Dialogue helped the team undertake several activities, including capacity building, exchange of visits, among others.

“Now, we are going to have another policy dialogue to strengthen collaborations among all the institutions involved in extending all the digital solutions to smallholder farmers”.

“It is a very important meeting that demonstrates once again the leadership of NITDA in scaling up ICT4D and we are very pleased with to be having this discussion because it will aid us to straighten out some pillars and strategies for the benefit of smallholder farmers in Nigeria”, Ekoue stressed.

She expressed gratitude for NITDA DG’s assurances in granting IFAD’s collaboration requests which she mentioned would assist in leveraging community of actors, as NITDA is not only supporting the course but also would mobilise the support of other key stakeholders, invariably, enabling smallholder farmers access digital solutions across board.

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In the contemporary global system, digital economy has emerged as a key driver of growth and development. Countries across the world are harnessing the power of technology to spur economic advancement, job creation, and innovation.

Nigeria, a nation with immense potential, has taken significant strides towards realising its digital future through President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which underscores the need to harness technology for socio-economic advancement. At the heart of this transformation is Kashifu Inuwa, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

In the last four years, Inuwa has been instrumental in driving NITDA’s mission of promoting the development and regulation of the information technology sector in Nigeria. As a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) with a deep understanding of technology and its socio-economic impacts, Inuwa has combined his expertise with commitment to innovation and brought his wealth of technical experience to the country’s digital transformation journey.

Under Inuwa’s guidance, NITDA has played a significant role in shaping policies and frameworks that are conducive to the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy. The agency has worked tirelessly to foster a supportive ecosystem for technology startups and entrepreneurs, laying the foundation for innovation to thrive.

Through strategic partnerships with both local and international organisations, NITDA has facilitated knowledge exchange, technology transfer, and investment opportunities, positioning Nigeria as a hub for digital innovation in Africa.

NITDA’s multifaceted approach to advancing Nigeria’s digital economy revolves around its Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024) namely Developmental Regulation; Digital Literacy and Skills; Digital Transformation; Digital Innovation & Entrepreneurship; Cybersecurity; Emerging Technologies and; Promotion of Indigenous Content.

The Agency has been instrumental in driving the expansion of digital infrastructure across Nigeria. Initiatives such as the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), Nigeria e-Government Interoperability Framework (Ne-GIF), Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA), Nigeria Startup Act, among others, to foster an ecosystem that prioritises digital inclusion, innovation, and data-driven governance.

Furthermore, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programmes spearheaded by Inuwa have provided a platform for startups to flourish; offering grants, mentorship, and access to resources to nurture a culture of innovation, resulting in groundbreaking solutions that address local challenges and drive economic growth.

To safeguard Nigeria’s digital assets, NITDA championed data privacy and cybersecurity through regulatory instrument like the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), which gave birth to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.

These efforts not only enhance trust in digital services but also attract foreign investments and partnerships.

NITDA is actively empowering the Nigerian workforce with the essential skills demanded by the digital age. Through a range of capacity-building initiatives, NITDA is extending its reach to civil servants, journalists, students, corps members, women, and youth. This strategic effort is aimed at closing the gap in digital skills and enabling individuals to effectively engage in the burgeoning digital economy.

Inuwa unfolded the potentials in Nigerian farmers through Federal Government initiative of National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA), a project aimed at changing the face of agricultural sector in the country.

NITDA also launched the National Adopted School for Smart Education (NASSE) to promote digital literacy and skills. 500 students and 30 teachers at Junior Secondary School Karshi benefited from the pilot scheme.

The Agency also supervised the training of thousands of Artisans across the 6 Geo-Political Zones on digital literacy and phone repairs.

In addition to making an effort in IT development as well as enhancing the IT capacity of the citizenry, hundreds of IT Hubs, IT Parks, and Community ICT Centres were established, furnished and equipped with world class facilities across the states of the federation. The agency, through its strategic relations with techpreneurs, supported start-ups, IT hubs and ecosystems builders through Nigeria ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Vision (NIIEV).

Through his strategic vision, NITDA launched the National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF) which set the stage for the review of curriculum from the kindergarten to universities.

NDLF also target to achieve 95 per cent digital literacy by the year 2030 which aligns with the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to create over one million jobs for youths in the digital economy sector.

NITDA has attained impressive feats in propelling Nigeria’s digital economy forward through showcasing Nigeria’s capabilities at significant events like the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) held in Dubai and Morocco, as well as the LEAP event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Numerous Nigerian startups have excelled in these events, securing prizes that empower them to become creators of jobs rather than job seekers.

On the other hand, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda will undoubtedly serve as the driving force towards Nigeria’s digital transformation across various sectors, with a keen focus on economic rejuvenation.

Embracing the potential of the digital economy, Tinubu’s agenda aligns seamlessly with NITDA’s mission to harness technology for economic diversification, job creation, and improved public service delivery.

At the heart of President Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda lies a comprehensive blueprint for rejuvenating Nigeria’s economy. This holistic vision encapsulates the aspirations of a nation that yearns for sustainable development and quality of life for all citizens. Central to this vision is the recognition that a thriving digital economy is instrumental in achieving these goals.

President Tinubu believes that equitable access to technology is pivotal in bridging societal divides and creating opportunities. To this end, initiatives are being launched to provide digital literacy programmes in schools, training centers, and rural communities.

President Tinubu’s agenda places a premium on nurturing digital entrepreneurship and innovation. Initiatives that provide start-ups with access to technology infrastructure, funding, and mentorship are being integrated into the agenda by creating a fertile ground for innovation. The “Renewed Hope” agenda is laying the foundation for a vibrant ecosystem of digital enterprises that will contribute to economic growth and job creation.

The transformational power of technology is amplified when supported by robust digital infrastructure. President Tinubu’s vision emphasises investments in broadband connectivity, digital networks, and technology hubs across the nation.

This infrastructure not only facilitates seamless digital transactions but also serves as the bedrock for e-governance, data analytics, and smart city initiatives. As a result, Nigeria is primed to capitalize on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and position itself as a regional tech hub.

With President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda and Inuwa’s consolidation at NITDA, Nigeria will indeed prioritise digital innovation, infrastructure, and skills development to have a greater accomplishment, and emerge as a global digital powerhouse, driving socio-economic transformation and ensuring a brighter future for its citizens.

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TECHDIGEST – In a landmark speech at the International Hybrid Symposium on Smart Agriculture 2023, Kashifu Inuwa, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has reiterated the transformative potential of emerging technologies in revolutionising the agricultural sector in Nigeria.
The Symposium, organised by Federal University Dutsinma (FUDMA), in collaboration with Islamic World Educational, Science and Cultural Organisation, Morocco, themed “The Future of Smart Agriculture and the Role of Emerging Technologies in Achieving the SDGs,” brought together experts to discuss ways that will hitherto encourage smart agriculture, and showcased beneficiaries of the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) from Federal University Dutse.

Inuwa, who was represented by Dr Aminu Lawal, SA on Digital Transformation, highlighted the significant strides made in the field of smart farming, which combines the power of data and computing technologies to enhance the efficiency and predictability of farming operations.

The DG said, every sector and industry has been impacted by digital revolution, and agriculture is not an exception. According to him, agriculture has witnessed shifts from primitive farming to mechanised farming and now in the digital or smart farming era.

He said in smart farming, the focus is on capturing data and interpreting them using computing technologies to make farm operations more predictable and efficient.
Inuwa stated that Digital technologies have been recognised as one of the critical enablers of agriculture transformation for increased food production to meet the global challenge of feeding this population and accelerate the achievement of goal number two, zero hunger, in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

READ ALSO: TNW Conference 2023: NITDA Unveils N10bn Funds For Startups, Hubs, Others

He said, “there is a need to increase the production and profitability of farmers, increase the impact of agriculture intervention, attract youths and talents into agribusinesses, and use agriculture to diversify the economy. Digital technologies have the ability to change this narrative.

“Agriculture, if properly harnessed and technologies and innovations effectively introduced, the sector remains the number one sector for taking 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years and creating large well-paying jobs for Nigerian youths.

“Digital technologies can significantly reduce information access inequalities, improve the management and sustainability of natural resources used in farming, reduce the costs of linking sellers and buyers, and improve knowledge sharing and access to markets.

“With digital technologies farmers make more precise decisions on resource management, and farm processes, and better engagement between consumers and producers through increased and faster information analysis and the resulting insights; thereby leading to smart farms and making small-scale producers more competitive.” The DG said.

Inuwa further said that NITDA in its effort to facilitate digitisation of the agriculture sector developed the Nigeria Digital Agriculture Strategy (NDAS) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and key stakeholders. The vision of the strategy is to make Nigeria the top three (3) most food-secure countries in Africa and the top 20 largest exporters of standard agricultural produce by 2030 through the use and application of digital technologies and innovations.

In an attempt to further digitise the agriculture sector, address those obvious challenges, exploit the opportunities and accelerate economic growth, the Agency came up with National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA).

NAVSA is a technology and innovation-driven agricultural initiative aimed at addressing low agriculture productivity, inappropriate financing strategy, and repayment difficulties through the introduction of closed and open wallet systems on mobile payment platforms.

The initiative has been designed to accelerate the achievement of the Federal Government’s objectives on massive job creation, economic diversification, and growth. It builds and connects agriculture ecosystem players across the agriculture value chain to position agriculture as a business, attracts a youthful population into agriculture enterprises, ensures funds can be recouped through digital wallets, and values every farm produce for improved contribution to GDP and economic development.

He added that since its launch, its implementation and sustainability models, NAVSA continued to attract the attention of key players in the Agricultural ecosystem in line with global best practices.

Inuwa also noted that the Agency partnered with universities for the implementation of NAVSA to shape and model new generation of agriculturists to become smart farmers, thereby preparing them for the future of agriculture.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Armaya’u Hamisu-Bichi, said that the theme resonated deeply in their quest for innovation, efficiency and sustainability within the agricultural sector.

He said “In an era where our world is confronted with numerous challenges ranging from population growth to climate change, it is imperative to harness the potential of emerging technologies.

According to him, smart agriculture, which integrates cutting-edge technologies such as Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and data analytics has the power to revolutionise farming practices, increase productivity, optimize resource management and enhance overall efficiency.

“It is through collective efforts and comprehensive strategies that we can attain this delicate equilibrium, fostering harmonious coexistence between agricultural production and environmental preservation,” he added.

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TECHDIGEST – Inspired by the success stories emanating from the implementation of the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) and its prospect to attract the youths to embrace agriculture, leveraging on the digital technologies, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) at the weekend concluded the five days intensive training which culminated into the adoption of another 75 smart farmers into the NAVSA platform at the University of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The programme, which one of the goals is to build a sustainable digital platform that provides varieties of information for more than half of agriculture ecosystem players in Nigeria in order to enable a highly-productive agribusiness economy, has since adopted almost 992 smart farmers and created thousands of direct and indirect jobs to Nigerians.

At a brief closing ceremony and presentation of digital tools and seed funding to the beneficiaries the NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, who was represented by the team lead and Assistant Director, Digital Economy Development Department, Dr. Ayodele Bakare, reiterated that the programme is designed to help the farmers raise their efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability of their farm businesses through the adoption of digital technologies.

READ ALSO: Pantami Receives Global Winners from LEAP 2023 Rocket Fuel Pitch Startup Competition in Riyadh

Giving the overview of the programmes, he disclosed that the programme was designed in two folds; to build the digital skill and literacy skills of the beneficiaries and to practically demonstrate to them how feasible it is to run a smart farm.

He said that the programme was initiated by NITDA to demonstrate that IT is an enabler of all other sectors of the economy, and if properly deployed and adopted by farmers, it would aid food production and security in the country, adding that the essence of the training is for the beneficiaries to be able to manage their smart farms and become self reliance and self employed.

While advising the beneficiaries to practice what they have learnt throughout the period of the training and build on it, he assured them that NITDA would continue to provide the necessary support should the need arises.

He said, “What we have done here is to wet your appetite and inspire you to optimize it beyond what NITDA has done for you. We expect you to maximize your businesses models by pulling resources together.

Dr Bakare however called on the management to help the beneficiaries in monitoring and supervising the farms in order to ensure it is self sustaining.

“We sincerely thank the Vice Chancellor, the Dean of the faculty of Agriculture and entire staff for unfettered support to make this programme a reality and we believe that it will spur you to expand the scope far above what NITDA has donated,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof kayode Adebowale who was represented by Pro. Malachy Akporoga of Soil Science Department said, “the replica of what NITDA has done for the beneficiaries is to light their candles which he believes they would also light other people’s candles with it.”

“Most of you would leave this school and go out there to replicate what NITDA has done for you. NITDA cannot training all of you but they have found you worthy of the programme and I believe you also help them to train more people, when you start others will follow,” he added.

He informed that designing another approach to farming like NITDA has done would translate to food sufficiency as food is the most important need of man, adding that adoption of digital technologies in Agriculture has justified that hoe and cutlass are not the end in Agric business but a means to an end.

He further enjoined the beneficiaries to start farming now because of the situation the world has found itself, noting that anything planted now adds value to wellbeing. “Imagine the price of flour today because Ukraine is in war situation, I call on you to go out there and become the Ukraine of Nigeria,” he admonished.

The Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Stella Odebowale, in her vote of thanks expressed her appreciation to the Minister, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and the NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, for their foresight to inject digital technologies in farm practice saying that it would make agriculture attractive to the youths.

She assured that all the facilities would be used for the purpose they are donated for. We assure you that we would ensure sustainability of this programme and monitor the devices giving to our students to see that they were utilized for the purpose they were given.

Earlier, an Agriculture Entrepreneur, Mr. Akin Alabi, who was also one of the resource persons, noted that NAVSA programme would surely add values to agriculture businesses in Nigeria. “NITDA has impacted the prerequisite knowledge on the beneficiaries to ensure the project does not fail and with this, we can take digital agriculture to the next level.”

The 75 beneficiaries, who were drawn from different departments of Faculty of Agriculture and Computer Science, were full of praise for NITDA saying that the programme has broaden their horizon to think beyond seeing farming as laborious enterprise.

Deborah Onuchi, one of the beneficiaries, expressed delight that with the adoption of digital technologies, farming practice has become seamless and enterprising with various opportunities because of the value chain inherent it.

She promised that with the knowledge NITDA has impacted on her, she has seen agriculture as a business and not as a means to provide sustenance for oneself.
Meanwhile, during the NITDA team’s visitation to the Vice Chancellor, Prof Adebowale, he commended NITDA for introducing the new trend in agricultural practices to the youths. He maintained that if youths see that adopting smart technologies in agriculture makes it easier, they would surely adopt it.

“I appreciate the fact that the beneficiaries of this programme are youths who are technological savvy, it acceptability is assured unlike introducing it to the old one who would not accept it because of old farming traditions. They are like dry fish that cannot be straightened,” he concluded.

Among the facilities NITDA put in place for the successful implementation of the programme at the institution are; provision of connectivity to the beneficiaries, access to NAVSA platform, facilitation, financial inclusion through the digital wallets on the NAVSA platform, provision of insurance and E-extension services, Provision of smart demo farm, that is, smart irrigation and brooding system, a borehole University satellite farm in Ile-Ogbo, installation of smart irrigation system by NITDA, a 500 litre water tank, one Horse Power surface water pump, and solar inverter installed for the utilisation of the smart irrigation farm system.

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TECHDIGEST – The National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA today commences the training of 75 farmers that are to be absorbed on the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture platform.

The five days training which is holding at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan Oyo State is aimed at improving the production and the productivity of every NITDA adopted farmers on the NAVSA platform and also increase their incomes.

The NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE who was represented by the team lead and Assistance Director, Digital Economy Development Director, Dr Ayodele Bakare in his opening remarks disclosed that the project is designed to help the farmers raise their efficiency, effectiveness and profitability of their farm businesses through the adoption of digital technologies.

He stated that the adoption of technologies in agricultural practices have really helped in food sustainability especially the developed country adding that for Nigeria to also achieve the same feat, it must adopt technologies in all the agricultural value chain.

READ ALSO: NAVSA: NITDA Takes Empowerment Training To Oyo State

He said, “For us to be successful, this programme is going to be implemented in two folds. One, we are going to be providing you with training on the application of digital technologies in the enablement of value chain in agriculture and two, we are going to be implementing a smart farm which includes smart brooding, smart irrigation, use of drones for area mapping and the provision of digital platform to effectively manage the smart farm.”

He added that the essence of the training is for the beneficiaries to be able to manage their smart farms and become self reliance and self employed.

While advising the beneficiaries to take the training seriously because “NITDA and the University have put in tremendous efforts into the project, he called on the institution to consider expanding the scope beyond what NITDA has originally created it for, and to ensure its sustainability so it can continue to achieve its goals and objectives.

The Vice Chancellor of the School, Prof Kayode Adebowale who was represented by Prof Oladepo Okhare, expressed delight over the project and commended NITDA for finding the University worthy of the programme.

He maintained that the world is has become a global village where adoption of Information Technology in agricultural practices would not only guarantee access to information but increase the potentials of farmers.

He said, “Smart farming is proliferating globally and in Nigeria we are about to start. The potentials are here, and I would have loved to see more students here than we have seen today. I think after this programme, there is a need to extend it to the other departments like Engineering, just like you have done to Computer Science. There is a need for integration, optimisation and synthesis of knowledge.”

While admitting that the new curriculum for the university education should include entrepreneurial contexts, the Vice Chancellor commended NITDA for being proactive in working in that direction already by collaborating with tertiary institutions in building the human capacity and promoting entrepreneurial skills of the students.

“We need to have a lot of collaboration and as we had done in the past but either from your side or our side, we are sometimes stagnant and I think the bond can still be strengthened, our students are ready to work and it is about the future,” he alluded.

Earlier, the representative of the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Oladeji Oyinlola, applauded the position of NITDA to collaborate with the University describing it as a welcome development. “Collaboration has been the position of the university since its inception, and in this regard, it is so novel because developed countries of the world now employ the use of Information Technology to enhance food security,” he added.

He said, “NITDA is therefore providing a real privilege for the university on a platter of gold. NITDA, in its quest to intervene in the agricultural development of the nation recently introduced NAVSA. This digitally artificial project is conceived to facilitate the development of agricultural enterprises.”

While accepting that the programme would go a long way in exposing the students to modern trend in agricultural practices especially in the use of information and computer technology for agriculture, Prof Oyinlola also noted that the programme provided for the beneficiaries; smart devices, seed funding, capacity building in four different enterprises, among others.

He listed other components the programme provides to include; provision of connectivity to the beneficiaries, access to NAVSA platform facilitation, financial inclusion through the digital wallets on the NAVSA platform, provision of insurance and E-extension services, provision of smart demo farm, that is, smart irrigation and brooding system, a borehole that has already been donated for the project at the University satellite farm in Ile-Ogbo, installation of smart irrigation system by NITDA, a 500 litre water tank, one Horse Power surface water pump, and solar inverter installed to utilize the small irrigation system.

He appreciated the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and the NITDA’s Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, for approving the school as beneficiary of the programme.

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TECHDIGEST – In furtherance to its resolve at deepening the Digital Transformation Pillar of its Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan, (SRAP) 2021-2024 under the Agricultural value chain, the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA has commenced the train of another 75 farmers under the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture, (NAVSA) to be adopted on the platform.

The training holding at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State capital starts today with the registration and profiling of the beneficiaries and will culminate on Friday February 17th with the presentation of seed funding and digital tools they leverage on for smart farming.

Speaking during the profiling ceremony, the team lead and Assistance Director, Digital Economy Development Department, Dr. Ayodele Bakare admonished the beneficiaries to take the training seriously and give it their utmost attention and interests as it could be their fortune changer for them.

Also, the programme Desk officer, Mr. Lukman Lamid enjoined them to be punctual because being selected for the training does not guarantee that digital tools and seed funding would be given to anyone who does not make himself available for the training.

READ ALSO: Nigerians In Disapora Are Crucial For Development – NITDA Boss

NAVSA is an Initiative of NITDA under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy which is modeled in the concept of smart farming to provide the agricultural sector with the infrastructure that leverage Emerging Technology like Big Data, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, and Internet of Things for tracking, monitoring, automation and analyzing farm operation.

The programme goals are to improved production and productivity of every adopted farmer on NAVSA platform by 35 per cent; increase the income of every adopted farmer on NAVSA platform by 30 per cent at every harvest; improve production and productivity of any other farmers on NAVSA platform by 20 per cent and increase the income of any other farmer on NAVSA platform by 15 per cent at every harvest.

The programme has since adopted 835 farmers across five states of katsina, Ogun, Jigawa, Gombe, Ekiti and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and created almost 5000 direct and indirect jobs in the country.

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TECHDIGEST – The Federal Government of Nigeria, through National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), distributed smart agriculture materials to beneficiaries of the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) 5-Day Empowerment Programme which took place at Al-Qalam University, Katsina, Katsina State.

NAVSA Programme is designed to accelerate massive job creation, economic diversification and growth, facilitate the integration of digital technologies and innovations in the agriculture processes and practices in order to significantly increase productivity, improve food security, ensure an eco-friendly agricultural practice, attract potential talents and youths into agriculture professions to maximise outcomes.

In this edition, the Federal Government has improved green energy-powered smart brooding to enhance the survival rate of broilers, a smart irrigation system to support a year-long production, and a soil nutrient monitoring system to support information-driven farming on a demo land.

This is in addition to other benefits such as: Smart Device, 100,000 Naira seed fund, AgricTech training/capacity Building, Connectivity (Internet and CUG), NAVSA Platform, Financial inclusion through digital wallets, e-Extension and insurance services, Continuous reinvestment model opportunities and Unmanned Area Vehicle (UAV)/Drone for smart farm.

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Speaking during the closing ceremony on Friday, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE who was represented by Ag. Director, Digital Economy Development of the Agency, Engr. Salisu Kaka, stated that, “Agriculture remains one of the critical sectors of Nigeria’s economy. This is evident in the policies of the current administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR. Every economic, developmental and social policy gives agriculture priority.”

Inuwa said the NAVSA Empowerment will enhance agriculture value chain, create new value and opportunities through new business models and services, and ultimately enable the creation of millions of jobs while taking the people out of poverty and enabling economic growth and diversification.

“With our potential in arable land size and youthful population, modernizing the agricultural sector can change the narrative and multiply the contribution of the sector to the national GDP in many folds. Unfortunately, the sector is the least digitized in the country. It has been proved that any digitized business has the potential to grow exponentially.”

“We hold a social contract to ensure IT drives every aspect of life and contributes to every community and national development as a whole. In line with our mandates, we carry out digital technology-driven interventions in any industry and sector of the economy across the country.”

“This is evident in all digitised economic sectors of the world such as the Bank, financial services, media and entertainment among others. Undoubtedly, digitization of the economic sectors has proved to be the game changer for economic transformation across the globe.

It is believed that if the agriculture sector is properly managed and enhanced, it would be a genuine means of eradicating poverty, improving people’s standard of living, diversifying the economy and creating prosperity for Nigerians,” Inuwa noted.

He further said, “We all have it as a duty to ensure agriculture is practised as a business and not a way of life as usual. There is a need to modernise agricultural practices in the country. In view of this conviction and in line with its mandates of universal IT access and integration into every sector of the economy, NITDA has designed a digital technology and ecosystem-driven innovation to address most of our challenges in the agriculture sector.

“The narrative is being changed through NAVSA and other digital agricultural initiatives. This is to support the digitisation of the agricultural sector to address our challenges, exploit the opportunities and accelerate economic growth, in line with the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP) and the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

He added that NESP takes agriculture as a mainstay for economic recovery, diversification, and job creation. The plan proposed a mass agriculture programme to bring 20,000 to 100,000 hectares of new farmland under cultivation in every State of the Federation.

According to Inuwa, the aim is to create 5 million job opportunities, directly and indirectly spanning the entire agricultural value chain, from ‘farm to table’. This can only be achieved by incentivising and engaging millions of Nigerians in farming and agro-processing.

“We have chosen to work with AUK in this edition of NAVSA because we are convinced that being a community-owned institutions, it possesses a unique advantage of a having a highly sustainable business model that can support the sustainability framework of NAVSA. We will be at advantage of having the opportunity to prove that community-based innovations are better ways of proffering solutions to our socio-economic challenges.”

“With the NAVSA, we also believe that unemployment, insecurity and the underdeveloped economy challenges we are facing today in Nigeria can be addressed through agriculture,” he concluded.

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TECHDIGEST – In its continuous approach to create fair and inclusive societies that provide equal opportunities through various programmes, projects, and policies, the Federal Government through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), organised ICT Stakeholders’ Engagement programme in Ilorin, Kwara State, in order to give stakeholders an opportunity to express their views and opinions on matters related to the Agency’s implementation of its mandate.

The Participants, including ICT experts, Government Representatives, Academia, Startup ecosystems, ICT Associations, Technology Solution Providers, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and relevant stakeholders in the Digital Economy Sector shared ideas on how Kwara IT ecosystem should take advantage of the various opportunity and platforms being provided by NITDA to upskill, connect and build a robust network that will facilitate gainful collaboration among all stakeholders

Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, Director General of NITDA, who was represented by Director, Zonal Offices Directorate, Mr Babajide Ajayi, said that the Stakeholders’ Engagement is a veritable platform to pool knowledge, experience, and expertise, and to co-create solutions, articulate strategies, and extend our services to all stakeholders, especially at the grassroots.

He said, “Throughout the twenty-one-year journey of the Agency, we have had to look continuously at our mandate, reset our vision, and invigorate our mission. We have moved from being a highly centralised organisation to a functionally decentralised Institution. Our aspiration is to be an Organisation closer to the stakeholders.”

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We are also increasingly becoming a process-driven, data-dependent, and results-oriented Organisation. Our strategies and choices are pursued while always ensuring financial prudence – even in the most turbulent times and ensuring that we meet the objectives of a national IT Governance, foremost of which is delivering value to our stakeholders. 

“These are in tandem with our core values of People First, Innovativeness, and Professionalism. Indeed, that is why we are here today. Our stakeholders come first, and we must strive to deliver value to you. That would not be possible without listening to you and speaking with you to get clarity on your perspectives, aspirations, and needs, he added.

Speaking on the Agency’s people-oriented programmes, Inuwa said, “under the supervision of Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and stakeholders, we have implemented programmes such as National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA), National Adopted School for Smart Education (NASSE), Digital Literacy Capacity Training for Persons Living with Disabilities, support for ICT Innovation Hubs, building of Community IT Centres, development State IT policies, and a host of other activities.”

He said as the needs of the Digital Economy Ecosystem grow; the Agency has striven to respond appropriately. This has been demonstrated in the strategic actions the Agency has taken in the implementation of critical areas of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).

“We are aware that we still have a lot to do. Therefore, we are committed to making further progress over the coming year, and we look forward to the continued support of all our stakeholders,” he concluded.

On his part, the Commissioner for Business Innovation and Technology, Honourable Ibrahim Ajake, stated that the role of Digital Platform in entrepreneurship evolution cannot be overemphasised

He added that digitalisation changes the economics of doing business across border, bringing down the cost of international interaction and transaction. According to him, updated digital entrepreneurship knowledge and dynamics is one of the major ways Nigerian entrepreneurs can upscale their potentials in the global market.

“Digital evolution creates markets and user communities with global scale, providing business with huge base of potential customers and effective ways to reach them.”

“I am confident that the stakeholder’s engagement meeting will be of immense value to the ICT inclined public and keep abreast with necessary opportunity to enhance market access in order to tap into the foreign exchange earnings,” he noted.

He therefore urged participants to interact with experienced resource personnel and contemporaries to be equipped with various knowledge needed for optimal output.

“My sincere gratitude goes to NITDA and all the stakeholders for organising this event, and I assure you that all deliberations and contributions at this programme will serve as strength to us in the Ministry.

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