The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to engage 5,000 university students to become smart farmers in the next 10 years.
NITDA’s Director General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi made this known at the virtual closing ceremony of the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) at the Federal University Dutse (FUD) in Dutse.
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Abdullahi said NAVSA was designed in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s policies on diversification agenda, especially on National Digital Economic Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).
“In the next 10 years in FUD, more than 5,000 students would have benefited with possibilities of an additional 500,000 direct and indirect jobs,’’ the NITDA DG said.
One of the critical sectors of the economy in Nigeria with a high potential for economic diversification is agriculture.
He said, “The sector was reported to have contributed 26.84 per cent to overall GDP in real terms in Q4 2021. The sector grew by 3.58 per cent (year-on-year) in the same quarter.”
The DG expressed sadness that an average Nigerian farmer still makes use of primitive farm tools like hoes and cutlass among others.
According to him, that constituted a major setback to productivity, food security and the contribution of agriculture to the economic growth of the country.
“Also, access to markets is one of the biggest challenges faced by smallholder farmers, which directly affects their income and living standards.
“Lack of access to the market poses serious threats to farmers, especially their inability to sell off their produce at good prices. Hence, this leads to massive post-harvest losses and food wastage,” he said.
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