NITDA Boss Links Technology To Agric Dev 

The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu  Inuwa,  says Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is critical to the growth of the agricultural sector.
Inuwa, who said this when he  received  the Co-Founder of Corporate  Farmers International  (CFI), Mr Akinwale Alabi, in Abuja recently, stated that ICT could guarantee cash flow and be a major contributor to the nations’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He noted that disruptive innovation, using emerging technologies, would create new markets and easy access to new products and services.
According to him, there was need to create value chain, and platform to bring farmers, up takers, and financial institutions together.
This, he said, would ease the purchase of goods and services through orders placed on the platform, and that a logistics company could also be requested to pick up and deliver the item ordered.
“NITDA launched National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) programme to boost the capacity of young Nigerian farmers in the digital world market.
‘NAVSA seeks to digitally transform the agricultural economy of farmers and their business models across all value chains to increase productivity.
‘’The NAVSA pilot programme was launched at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, with 100 young farmers,” he said.
NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024, Inuwa said, was crafted by the agency to transform Nigeria into a sustainable digital economy driven by technology.
He said SRAP had seven pillars, namely: Developmental Regulation; Digital Literacy and Skills; Digital Transformation; Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Cybersecurity; Emerging Technologies; and Promotion of Indigenous Content Development.
Speaking at the occasion, the Co-Founder of CFI, Akinwale Alabi, commended the DG for the giant strides, intervention, programmes, and the launch of the digital agricultural strategy.
He further stated that it developed a digital e-learning system for young entrepreneurs, which had helped many farmers gain knowledge about agricultural activities, thereby changing their perception of farming.