*The National Information Technology Development Agency urges the Nigerian Government to develop ‘integrated digital infrastructure’, towards expanding agricultural extension services, and offering millions of farmers timely, reliable information
Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect
In an effort at expanding agricultural extension services while offering millions of Nigerian farmers timely, reliable information, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has urged the Federal Government to develop what is described as the “integrated digital infrastructure”.
Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of NITDA, stated this in his address at the Africa Agribusiness Extension Summit (AAES) 2026, organised by Extension Africa in partnership with NITDA, in Abuja, FCT.
Inuwa, represented at the event Engr. Salisu Kaka, Director of e-Government at NITDA, said Nigeria could no longer rely solely on conventional face-to-face extension services to meet the needs of its growing farming population.
On AI’s potential to analyse agric trends, offer recommendations
The Director-General of the IT sector regulatory agency also said emerging technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), could complement the existing extension workforce by connecting farmers with advisory services regardless of location.
According to him, the focus should be on developing what he called “an interconnected digital ecosystem” rather than creating isolated platforms.
Inuwa identified interoperability, scalability, security and reliable data as essential to building effective digital agricultural services.
The NITDA Chief Executive further highlighted AI’s potential to analyse agricultural trends, provide recommendations and support early-warning systems that could help farmers respond to emerging threats.
Speaking at the event also, Abubakar Kyari, Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, similarly advocated increased investment in digital agricultural extension services to modernise farming, improve productivity and strengthen food security.
Kyari said the conventional extension system had weakened over the years, with the ratio of farmers to extension agents increasing significantly in many areas.
The Minister, therefore, advocated digital platforms that could deliver weather alerts, market information, crop-disease advice, and other agricultural information through mobile phones and other channels.
He also stressed that digital solutions must be designed around farmers’ realities and should complement, rather than replace, conventional extension services.
Kyari as well sought greater investment by state governments, increased participation of young people, and deliberate efforts to reach women farmers.
According to him, improving productivity among millions of farmers would be critical to meeting Nigeria’s rising food demand.
Better access to agricultural knowledge and advisory services could contribute to improved livelihoods and food security, stated he.
Tajudeen Yahaya, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Extension Africa, said the organisation was established to address gaps in Africa’s agricultural extension system and strengthen last-mile advisory services.
Yahaya identified people, data, technology and partnerships as key pillars for building an effective extension system.
He equally urged stronger collaboration among government, private-sector organisations, development partners and technology companies to overcome fragmentation in agricultural extension.
The CEO of Extension Africa noted that the firm, established in 2021, has grown to about 7,000 extension workers across 16 states and reached over a million farmers.
Highlighting the key objective of the forum, Yahaya said the summit was aimed at developing measurable benchmarks and practical solutions for strengthening Nigeria’s agricultural extension system through improved human capacity, reliable data, technology and sustainable partnerships.