Nigeria’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in collaboration with the country’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), has launched a data-capturing scheme for Nigerian farmers.
The idea is that by capturing accurate data on farmers, government can better understand their needs and allocate resources, ensuring targeted support to farmers and enhancing agricultural productivity.
The initiative therefore aims to create a comprehensive database of farmers to facilitate effective agricultural planning and intervention. The Nairametrics news site says that the partnership will leverage NIMC’s expertise in identity management to create a robust and reliable database.
A technical working group (TWG), which includes directors from various technical departments and a representative from NIMC, has been established to oversee the implementation of the scheme.
The TWG will build a detailed work plan with clear timelines, roles and responsibilities and design robust data collection tools to capture essential farmer information, such as personal identification, farm size, and crop types. There will also be training programmes for field officers and data collectors to ensure data accuracy and consistency.
This isn’t the first time Nigeria’s federal government has used communications and IT for the benefit of the agricultural sector. In July it announced that it was developing a web application aimed at training farmers on best practices for different crops. The app will be available in major languages.
In March we reported that MTN Nigeria and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency had announced plans to disseminate weather and climate information to farmers and other users across Nigeria.