Stakeholders in the agricultural sector were dazzled recently as FarmKonnect, an agribusiness company that connects investors in agriculture, inaugurated its state-of-art precision farming data centre in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The centre, which was established at the heart of the city, showcases expansive and fully equipped halls from where farm estates and other chain agricultural activities could seamlessly and remotely run for optimum results.
While addressing the gathering, Mr Azeez Saheed, Chief Executive Officer of FarmKonnect, disclosed that the centre would, among others serve as the control station for its ever-growing farm estates located in different parts of Nigeria and beyond.
Lamenting that Africa had yet to fully key to the benefits that science and technology offer in agricultural practices, he said, “FAgEX will create about 700 jobs in Nigeria alone.
“Raising youngsters to become agricultural giants will be impossible without having institutes that instill character alongside knowledge and experience as well as business mindedness in youths venturing into the sector.
“Towards the last quarter of 2019 FarmKonnect Nigeria revealed its plan to pioneer an Agricultural Extension Service Centre in Nigeria to be founded in Ibadan, Oyo State. The project aims to promote the practice of precision agriculture and climate-smart farming which is in line with the company’s mission to drive food security and nutrition through real estate of modern technologies and methodologies.
“The incumbent mission to nip Africa’s challenge in data in the bud spurs the conception of FarmKonnect Institute of Data and Agribusiness Studies (FIDAS).
“FIDAS aims to provide technical supports for businesses and helping young entrepreneurs, emerging business leaders and professionals to understand the value and scope of Data science and Data analytics in the modern economy with a keen focus on Agriculture, Trade, Character Development and Commerce. The Vision of FIDAS is to build a network of stakeholders in the agribusiness ecosystem with utmost clarity of purpose.”
He listed the objectives of FarmKonnect to include contributing to quality and data-driven workforce in Africa; upscaling consciousness and application of the big data in Africa’s economy especially agriculture; promoting precision agriculture in Africa; to positively impact the digital-data stories of Africa and position the continent to transition to new path in the data economy.
In addition, Saheed said unless governments at all levels in Nigeria prioritised agriculture as done to oil and gas, Nigeria may soon run into problems of hunger, food insecurity and conflict.
The expert said, “The time is long overdue for Nigerians, especially the youths, to embrace modern methodologies in agriculture that do not depend on weather and climatic conditions which had, hitherto been limiting factors. With technology, farming has become profitable and attractive. You can now farm without lifting a cutlass or a hoe.
“Like I said earlier, IT or technology will tap you on the shoulder. If you are not ready, keep waiting there. It will drag and bruise you. Technology is not waiting on you. You have to be ready. Were we ready for mobile phones? Were we ready for ATM card? People are not just exposed. Exposure would reveal the power that is in human beings.
“Smart farming is about knowing what your plants and animals need and give it to them so that you can be efficient in avoiding wastages and reducing losses. There are several several forms of security; environmental, economic, health, social and all of that but food security is fundamental. Every creature needs food to thrive. Humans will do anything to get food.
“If there is food insecurity, people will go into crime. You look at whether food is socially, physically and emotionally available in that can people buy it? If not, people will do anything to get food. That might breed crime. Scarcity will bring conflict and conflict is the father of war. When there is no food anything can happen.”
Chief Bisi Ilaka, Chief of Staff to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, described the initiative by FarmKonnect as rewarding, noting, “We have a lot of challenges in agriculture. We have a preponderance of small holder farmers thrown apart across the state with 80 to 85 per cent of them who are unlearned and un-banked. They cannot get loan for mechanised farming. Now, the technology is here.
“We also face the problem of insecurity because the farmers are scattered and everyone is doing its own. With the initiative of agricultural farm estate, technology is available, farmers can pool together and logistics for security would be easier. The available technology is a game changer. I really think that the FarmKonnect would go a long way.”
