FG revolutionising agric through digitalisation

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, has said that the federal government was digitalising the agricultural sector in the country to boost food security.

Dr Pantami gave the assurance Tuesday at the commissioning of training for 140 farmers on digital farming in Gombe.

The programme is under the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) through the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) empowerment programme.

Dr Pantami said agriculture remain key to the survival of any country, adding that technology through ICT would prepare the nation for the future.

He stated that the requirements to succeed in the fourth industrial revolution necessitated digitalisation as the core of any nation’s developmental strategy.

The minister said digitalisation had a proven impact on the economy and society by reducing unemployment and improving the quality of life as well as boosting access to knowledge.

He said developed countries and even some African countries like Ghana and Kenya had been practising digital agriculture and had recorded huge successes.

“The ICT sector is a key enabler of every other sector. It is making other sectors more productive because there are so many models ICT is using to promote agriculture,” he said.

Pantami stated that the participants, drawn from across the state, would each go home with a smart device, fertiliser, pesticides and N100, 000 cash, among other items.

He said similar training had been done in Jigawa and Ekiti states, adding that the participants were all provided with similar facilities by the federal government.

The minister said the training would be extended to other states to ensure that a significant number of people benefitted from it.

Also speaking director-general, Dr Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said that leveraging digital technology and innovations would attract a youthful population in agriculture as well as create digital business models across the value chain.

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