Stakeholders at the 4th Annual Conference of the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Ibadan, on Monday affirmed the transformative role of digital technology in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
The conference was themed “Innovating for the Future: Integrating Science, Smart Agriculture and Emerging Technologies for Sustainability and Global Prosperity”.
Guest speaker Prof. Babasola Olugasa, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan (UI), said internet connectivity is becoming an important means for farmers to access agricultural information.
According to him, the digital space is bringing markets, financial services, extension advice and livelihood opportunities to farmers.
“Globally, digital technologies have improved the generation, exchange and use of agricultural information, enabling farmers to obtain timely information on weather, input availability, market prices, production practices and potential buyers,” he said.
Olugasa said digital farming could improve household welfare by reducing information asymmetries related to input sourcing, production practices and market opportunities. He added that it could also facilitate financial inclusion, innovation and other income-generating activities.
“Using propensity-score matching and inverse-probability-weighted estimators, comparing internet-using farming households with similar non-users across alternative counterfactual samples with the aid of Nigeria General Household Survey (GHS) data, the results show that internet usage improved farm and non-farm income, although the magnitude of the effect remains modest for the former.
“The welfare effects are more pronounced; internet usage reduces the likelihood of household poverty by 12.4–17 per cent, reduces subjective food insecurity by 7.5–10.0 per cent and improves dietary diversity by 14.9–22.39 per cent.
“Overall, the findings suggest that digital farming can contribute to poverty reduction and broader household welfare improvement in Nigeria,” he said.
He, however, identified limited connectivity, affordability and digital literacy as constraints to the full adoption and effective use of digital technologies.
“Although mobile communication has expanded rapidly in Nigeria and become increasingly relevant to rural livelihoods, much of the existing Nigerian literature has focused on mobile-phone ownership or general ICT use rather than internet usage specifically,” he said.
Lead paper presenter Kayode Salman, a professor of Agricultural Economics at UI, said digital farming is no longer the future but the present, already transforming agriculture globally.
“If digital farming is the destination, internet usage is one of the critical roads that takes farmers there.
“Digital farming is live in Nigeria and making farming easier for farmers. We have Hello Tractor for farmers needing machinery,” he said.
Earlier, Dr Moshood Popoola, Provost of the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, said agriculture and animal production are changing rapidly and globally.
According to Popoola, the challenges confronting food and agricultural systems today are multidimensional.
“We are dealing with climate change, population growth, food insecurity, emerging and re-emerging animal diseases, declining natural resources, rising production costs, changing consumer preferences and the need for more efficient and sustainable production systems.
“At the same time, we are witnessing remarkable technological developments.
“Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, precision agriculture, biotechnology, genomics, drones, remote sensing, robotics, Internet of Things devices, digital agriculture, data analytics, smart farm management systems and other emerging technologies are transforming the way agricultural production is conceived and practised,” he said.
He said the question is no longer whether technology will influence agriculture.
“Technology is already transforming agriculture.
“The critical question is how do we ensure that our institutions, researchers, farmers, entrepreneurs and young people are adequately prepared to harness these technologies for sustainable agricultural development?
“This is where institutions such as the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology have a critical role to play.
“We must produce graduates who are not only knowledgeable in animal health, animal production, agriculture and related disciplines, but who are also digitally literate, innovative, entrepreneurial and capable of solving real-world problems.
“Our research must also move beyond publications alone. We must increasingly ask ourselves: what problem are we solving? Who will benefit from our research?
“How can the innovation be commercialised? How can it improve farmers’ livelihoods, and how can it contribute to food security and economic development?” he asked.
In her presentation, Dr Mutiat Salawu, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, said the state of agriculture in Nigeria calls for urgent intervention.
“It’s a call for us to confront the defining challenges of our time: climate change, food insecurity, technological disruption, and the quest for sustainable prosperity.
“We gather here not only to exchange knowledge, but to shape the trajectory of our collective future.
“We have accepted papers that cut across diverse fields, from Artificial Intelligence to aquaculture; from veterinary medicine to molecular sciences; from policy analysis to entrepreneurship.
“This breadth is intentional, because no single discipline can, in isolation, solve the complex problems of sustainability,” she said.
According to Salawu, participants, as scholars, must resist the temptation to retreat into intellectual silos because the farmer’s field is influenced by algorithms as much as by rainfall.
“The health of livestock is inseparable from the health of humans and ecosystems. The economics of aquaculture are shaped by both molecular biology and global trade.
“This conference is therefore a crucible, a place where ideas from different domains can interact, challenge and enrich one another,” she said.
