Buhari’s Agric Revolution to create 6m new jobs

About six million new jobs will be created in the next 10 years in the agricultural sector, The Nation has learnt.

This is premised on the foundation the Muhammadu Buhari administration is laying in the Agricultural sector with the NITDA-Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) project.

The NAVSA project is a technology platform to connect all agricultural ecosystem members comprising farmers, government agencies, agriculture experts, the banks and micro-lenders, extension services, hardware solution providers, software developers, customers, among others, in the 774 local government areas of the country.

“The idea is to support 25 graduates in each of the 774 local government areas on modern agricultural methods, give them the resources and the right technology to enable them to manage their farms – from planting to harvesting and marketing,” said Mr Lukman Lamid, the Desk Officer in Charge of the Project at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Lamid, who said a pilot study of the project was being undertaken in Gombe State, added that the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, was collaborating with other critical stakeholders to ensure the success of the scheme.

He told The Nation that the government was re-thinking agriculture differently “in order to bring into reality the economic diversification of Mr. President and ensure attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 which is to end hunger and achieve food security by 2030”.

“The pilot phase is a proof of concept which had witnessed selection, training and support of 15 graduates in Gombe State on modern farming methods in collaboration with National Agriculture Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS),” Lamid added.

The desk officer said the digital platform and its mobile app components, launched recently by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, and the Director-General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, was a demonstration of the commitment of the government to the transformation of the agricultural sector.

Lamid said the platform would continue to serve NITDA-supported farmers, while other farmers and all the ecosystem members, when fully operational, would provide the needed information to monitor farms in real-time and connect with resources to manage farm effectively.

Expressing optimism that the development would lead to improved crop yield, quality of farm produce per plot of land and improved profits for farmers, Lamid hailed the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy for developing the application.