September 2, 2026 by Juliana Agbo
https://thenationonlineng.net/fg-ifad-push-ai-enabled-digital-extension-to-boost-nigerias-agriculture/
The Federal Government, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and other stakeholders have moved to strengthen the deployment of Artificial Intelligence-enabled digital extension services across Nigeria’s agricultural value chains.
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The stakeholders said the technology could help address the country’s shortage of agricultural extension workers while providing farmers with timely information on weather, pests, diseases, markets and improved farming practices.
They spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at a workshop themed, “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Digital Extension Across Agricultural Value Chains in Nigeria.”
IFAD Country Director, Dede Ekoue, described AI-enabled digital extension as strategically important to Nigeria’s agricultural transformation, saying it provides a practical mechanism for translating agricultural policies into farmer-level services and measurable results across the agrifood system.
Ekoue said AI could improve the timeliness and relevance of agricultural advisory services by tailoring information to farmers’ locations, crops, seasons, weather conditions, pest and disease risks, market opportunities and individual profiles.
“AI-enabled digital extension is strategically important for accelerating Nigeria’s agrifood systems transformation.
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“It offers a practical pathway for transforming national policy priorities into farmer-level advisory services, stronger value chain performance, improved food security and nutrition, climate resilience and inclusive agro-industrialisation,” she said.
National Project Coordinator of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Programme, Dr Kabir Yusuf, said the workshop was organised under the United Nations Joint Programme on Agri-Food System Transformation and Innovation in Nigeria (AFTI).
Yusuf expressed concern over Nigeria’s inadequate extension worker-to-farmer ratio, which he put at between one extension agent to 5,000 farmers and one to 10,000 farmers.
He said the figure was significantly above the often-referenced benchmark of about one extension worker to between 800 and 1,000 farmers.
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“Every season, we lose yield, quality and income to problems that a timely piece of advice could have prevented.
“The question before us is not whether artificial intelligence belongs in agricultural extension. It is how we make it work for the farmer who needs it most,” he said.
Sharing the project’s experience in partnership with Digital Green, Yusuf said the FarmerChat AI advisory platform was deployed in Kano and Ogun states for farmer registration, verification, monitoring and agricultural advisory services.
According to him, the platform provides weather updates, planting advisories and pest and disease guidance in Hausa and English through text, voice and images.
“Our target was 24,000 farmers. By the end of implementation, 20,899 farmers had been onboarded, accounting for about 87 per cent of the target, with 14,895 in Kano and 6,004 in Ogun.
“Women made up 7,665 of the farmers reached, roughly 37 per cent overall.
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“We trained 233 extension agents, farmer champions and programme personnel, above the 220 we had planned for,” Yusuf said.
He explained that the technology was already changing the way farmers accessed agricultural information, citing the example of a rice farmer in Kano who no longer had to wait weeks for an extension agent to visit.
According to him, a farmer could photograph unfamiliar pest damage, send a voice message in Hausa and receive a diagnosis and practical guidance the same morning.
Yusuf, however, stressed that AI should complement rather than replace conventional agricultural extension workers.
“The platform absorbs the frequent, seasonal questions, and that frees our agents for diagnosis, demonstrations and the difficult field problems.
“Our assessment is that about 30 per cent of this work is technology; the other 70 per cent is human facilitation,” he said.
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He also stressed the need for advisory content generated through digital platforms to be validated by Nigerian institutions, including the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services and relevant research institutes, and adapted to local agro-ecological conditions before farmers act on it.
Yusuf said the experience of the programme also demonstrated the importance of deliberately designing digital agricultural interventions to include women.
“In Ogun, women made up 2,957 of the 6,004 farmers, nearly half of beneficiaries, because we mobilised deliberately through women’s groups and female farmer champions.
“In Kano, where we relied more on general community mobilisation, women were only about 32 per cent. That contrast tells us something important: intentionality is everything,” he said.
He identified smartphone ownership, poor internet connectivity, high data costs and unreliable electricity, particularly in remote and underserved communities, as major barriers to expanding AI-enabled extension services.
Other challenges, he said, included low digital literacy and language barriers.
Yusuf said these constraints contributed to the programme reaching 87 per cent rather than the entire 24,000-farmer target.
He, however, commended ongoing Federal Government initiatives, including the National Electronic Extension Platform and National Digital Farmers Registry, saying their integration with AI advisory services could strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural transformation.
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According to him, aligning AI advisory services, farmer registries, content validation and responsible data governance would also support the objectives of the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme Kampala agenda.