30,000 Nigerian farmers to learn new farming tech via Microsoft-NITDA hackathon.
Microsoft is working with government and private sector partners to innovate ways to farm precisely for more yield, productivity, and profitability. In Africa, agriculture sustains 70% of livelihoods and households. Thus, the agriculture sector needs more cost-effective innovative ways to produce more products in the same time frame while also employing the same tools or more advanced ones. This partnership with the Nigerian government and individuals will enable data-driven, and ensure precision and connected farming that optimizes yields and boosts farm productivity and profitability.
Microsoft Nigeria Country Manager Ola Williams, took this position during the virtual roundtable panel discussion, which the software company hosted to talk about digital transformation in agriculture for food security in Africa. Lately, Africa and by extension, the rest of the world have seen increased in the price of goods especially foodstuffs. With this comes food insecurity. The discussion is aimed at devising new ways that farmers in Nigeria and Africa can solve this problem using technology.
Africa’s agriculture sector set for exponential growth in the decade.
The panel discussion involved partners from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). Microsoft spurned a discussion on models to be adopted, to be self-sufficient in food production. This is because even with agriculture sustaining majority of livelihoods and contributing significantly to the nation’s GDP, Nigeria still imports a lot of agricultural products. In the virtual roundtable discussion, Microsoft and the partners explored the ways in which Agritech is changing outcomes for farmers across Africa, unlocking more yields, and helping them accessing the latest information and expert advice on farming.
The agriculture sector in Africa is set for an exponential growth in the decade. It is projected to be valued at 1 trillion USD by 2030. There has also been a rise in the aspect of e-agriculture solutions. E-agriculture, or ICTs in agriculture, refers to designing, developing and applying innovative ways to use ICTs with a primary focus on agriculture. It offers a wide range of solutions to agricultural challenges and has great potential in promoting sustainable agriculture while protecting the environment. Agriculture contributed 22.35% of Nigeria’s GDP in 2021, with 70% of Nigerians engaging in agriculture, though largely at the subsistence level.
Agritech changes the face of agriculture through democratizing information.
Now that the Federal Government of Nigeria seeks to diversify the economy and move away the major source of revenue for the nation from crude oil, Microsoft says that it has become imperative to find ways to make farming more profitable and economically viable so that more entrepreneurs will be encouraged to see farming as a sustainable means of livelihood. Microsoft’s Nigeria Country Manager Ola Williams, says that the way that Agritech changes the face of information is through democratizing information. In other words, information must be readily made available not only to the privileged but also to the masses.
“Agriculture is the main driver of employment in Nigeria; however, the sector has seen reduced focus post oil era until recently. Agriculture is coming to the front burner as the Nigerian government is actively seeking to diversify and drive towards moving away from solely depending on oil as source of revenue. Some of the challenges agriculture faces in Nigeria is the absence of value addition and supply chain linkages,” William said. “Innovating in these areas of challenges will empower farmers to gain faster access to the market and provide them with an opportunity to grow their businesses at scale. To help farmers adopt technology, partnerships are needed to simplify platforms and provide access to technology, particularly for rural farmers.”
Microsoft, NITDA, and multi-national companies hosting a hackathon.
Microsoft in partnership with NITDA and multinational companies operating in Nigeria is hosting an Agro Innovate Hackathon. The director of Information Technology Infrastructure Solutions at NITDA, Dr Usman Gambo Abdullahi says this hackathon is to meet the challenges in the agriculture sector. “We believe that within the Nigeria tech ecosystem lies the solution to solve most of these challenges,” he says. The aim is to create a portal solution where farmers and customers can connect to conduct business, and where farmers can gain economic power and improve their profitability. The hackathon will produce three winning local Agritech startups who will be nurtured through Microsoft’s Africa Transformation Office and NITDA, and the intention is to train 30,000 farmers on the use of the platform, enrolling 10,000 farmers on the platform in the first year.
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That a good thing 3000 farmers that a huge number and a nice opportunity for them in the agricultural sector in Nigeria
This really a welcomed innovation that will transform Agricultural sector in Nigeria for a better crop yield.
This is a good innovation in agriculture sector farmer will learn new easy and secure way to farm. It also reduced the loss of their crops damage since they will learn new way of preserving the crops it also reduce risk of health damage using of unsecure chemical to preserve or plant crops. Now new way will be introduce to them, that is a very good innovation. I hope new innovation can be introduce to other sectors also
The investment of NITDA into the agricultural sector through Microsoft company is a very good initiative it will help our local farmers to use technological means to farm. This will also help to maximize the cost of production to make the product produced affordable.
If this can be achieved by Microsoft it’s a welcome idea for our farmers in order to aid sustainability and increment in crops produced and exported for more income
Make sense!!! Now Nigeria farmers will learn the proper ways farming
This is a great news for Nigerian farmers.the use of technology to solve agricultural challenges is go idea. For 30,000 farmers benefits for is really a good one.
This is an outstanding initiative for these farmers; now, they’ll be able to harness the real sweetness of farming properly
This is an amazing innovation. It will improve profits of farmers, also transform the agricultural sector if the economy. The training should set them on track. Apparently most farmers are not tech inclined
This will improve our farming system and also help the country economy. Nice one
This is a great development to a major a part of our economy in Nigeria. It will help solve food shortage in the country and other related challenges we are facing in the agriculture sector.
Tech power cant be fathom. Agritech will increase yields and provide our farmers access to latest information and expert advice on farming which will in turn make food crops more available to us and reduce poverty in our country.
This is an incredible step forward in technology. The profits of farmers will increase, and the agricultural sector of the economy will undergo a fundamental shift as a result. They should be back on track after the workout. It would appear that the majority of farmers are not technologically savvy.
This is a wonderful innovation for the farmers it will enable them boost output and results that is if they will work harder
In recent times, there has been an increase in the price of commodities across Africa and, by extension, the rest of the world, particularly concerning consumables. The result of this is an uncertain supply of food.
Farmers will be given the ability to get speedier access to the market, as well as the potential to build their enterprises on a larger scale, if innovations are developed to address the issues listed above.
The purpose of this conversation is to think of innovative ways that farmers in Nigeria and other parts of Africa might use technology to solve this problem.
Agricultural sector in Nigeria and Africa countries at large need a very serious commitment,this is only source that can really boost our GDP and make our economy stable because it will provide lots of job and also reduce the poverty level in Africa,with the help of Microsoft lots of things will change for better.
It provides a diverse range of answers to issues that arise in agriculture, and it has a significant potential to advance environmentally responsible farming practices while simultaneously addressing these issues.
This is a great development to the agricultural sector of the economy combined with beautiful innovations like reduction in poverty in the country and other related challenges we are facing in the agriculture sector.
Microsoft sparked a conversation about potential methods that could be implemented to achieve food production independence which is good for us
Together with the partners, Microsoft investigated the ways in which agritech is improving the lives of farmers across Africa by enabling them to increase their crop yields, as well as providing them with access to the most up-to-date information and agricultural guidance.
Seventy percent of people in Africa are able to maintain their livelihoods and households because to agriculture. As a result, the agricultural industry requires more inventive and cost-effective techniques to create a greater variety of goods.
Agriculture provides livelihoods for most people and contributes significantly to the nation’s GDP; Nigeria continues to import a substantial amount of agricultural goods.
The application of information and communications technology in agriculture will make a wide variety of agricultural problems more tractable and has a great deal of untapped potential in fostering environmentally responsible and sustainable agriculture.
As the world advances, it is indeed necessary that we shouldn’t be left out.
Agrictech is indeed a new phase for sustainable farming. But it is also important that we limit our importation rate.
The world as advance it is a great development to agricultural sector it is necessary in agrictech is indeed a new way for farming