ICTworks

Nigeria‘s population of over 221 million is growing rapidly – over 2.6% annually –  and the country faces significant challenges in meeting the food security demands of its citizens. Smallholder farmers struggle with poor seeds, labor shortages, and urbanization of prime farmland.

Artificial intelligence technology brings hope and potential solutions by revolutionizing farming methods, automating tasks, and ensuring a sustainable food supply for the future. Nigerian farmers can access AI-driven agricultural knowledge and solutions through agritech startups, government initiatives, and capacity building programs.

Nigerian AgriTech AI Startups

Several Nigerian agritech startups and companies are leveraging AI to provide farmers with access to agricultural knowledge, advisory services, and precision farming tools, including:

• Kitovu: Employs an AI-driven agronomic advisory platform that uses remote sensing to offer personalized soil and crop health analysis, input recommendations, and yield optimization insights.
• AirSmat: Provides AI-driven solutions that collect and analyze data from drones, satellites, soil sensors, and IoT devices to optimize water, fertilizer, and pesticide usage, predict yields, and offer data-driven farm management recommendations.
• Apollo Agriculture: Uses machine learning models to analyze satellite imagery, soil data, weather data, and farmer behavior data to provide smallholder farmers with customized financing, insurance, farm inputs, and agronomic advice.

Government AgriTech AI Initiatives

The Nigerian government has launched several initiatives to support and promote the use of artificial intelligence in the agricultural sector, including:

• National AI Strategy: Once complete, the Strategy will provide a framework for the development and adoption of AI across various sectors in Nigeria, including agriculture.
• Nigeria Artificial Intelligence Research Scheme (NAIRS): Supports AI research and development projects by providing financial support, facilitating knowledge sharing and collaboration among individuals and organisations in critical sectors like agriculture.
• World Bank Digital Agriculture Projects: Aim to raise yields, promote market access, and improve agricultural outcomes with AI in a technology-propelled agricultural sector and with agritech entrepreneurs across Nigeria.

AI Capacity Building Programs

The government of Nigeria has initiated several capacity building and training programs to equip farmers, researchers, and entrepreneurs with the necessary skills to leverage artificial intelligence AI in agriculture, including:

• NITDA AI Developers Group: An intensive training program conducted aims to train one million developers in Nigeria, including farmers, on programming skills in AI and machine learning. Participants explore Python for machine learning, data science, and leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT.
• NITDA Skills and Capacity Building: Specialized AI academic programs, conducts professional training and certifications, develops national AI curricula and standards, and enables upskilling for various stakeholders, including those in the agricultural sector.
• Ogun State Farmer Information System: Nigerian governments partnered with organizations like the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to provide training programs on digital agriculture and AI-driven solutions for farmers and extension agents. These programs cover topics like precision farming, data analytics, and the use of AI-powered tools for farm management.