FG Empowers Smart Farmers in Katsina, Plans 5m Jobs

Emma Okonji

The Federal Government of Nigeria, through National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), distributed smart agriculture materials to  beneficiaries of the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA), which is a 5-Day Empowerment Programme that took place at Al-Qalam University, Katsina, Katsina State.

NAVSA Programme is designed to accelerate massive job creation, economic diversification and growth, facilitate the integration of digital technologies and innovations in the agriculture processes and practices in order to significantly increase productivity, improve food security, ensure an eco-friendly agricultural practice, attract potential talents and youths into agriculture.

Speaking during the closing ceremony of the programme, Director General at NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdulahi, who was represented by Ag. Director, Digital Economy Development of the Agency, Salisu Kaka, said: “Agriculture remains one of the critical sectors of Nigeria’s economy. This is evident in the policies of the current administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari. Every economic, developmental and social policy gives agriculture priority.”

Abdulahi said the NAVSA Empowerment would enhance agriculture value chain, create new value and opportunities through new business models and services, and ultimately enable the creation of millions of jobs while taking the people out of poverty and enabling economic growth and diversification.

“With our potential in arable land size and youthful population, modernising the agricultural sector can change the narrative and multiply the contribution of the sector to the national GDP in many folds. Unfortunately, the sector is the least digitized in the country. It has been proved that any digitized business has the potential to grow exponentially.

“We hold a social contract to ensure IT drives every aspect of life and contributes to every community and national development as a whole. In line with our mandates, we carry out digital technology-driven interventions in any industry and sector of the economy across the country.

“This is evident in all digitised economic sectors of the world such as the Bank, financial services, media and entertainment among others. Undoubtedly, digitization of the economic sectors has proved to be the game changer for economic transformation across the globe,” Abdulahi said.