Africa’s first agricultural electronic centre launched in Ibadan

 

Inspired by the determination to make precision farming more accessible and affordable to farmers anywhere on African soil, a leading agribusiness expert, Azeez Oluwole, has launched Africa’s first agricultural electronic centre in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.

The launching which was officially performed yesterday, by Governor ‘Seyi Makinde, held at the international headquarters of FarmKonnect Agribusiness Nigeria Plc, at Bashorun, Ibadan, was also aimed at changing the digital-data narrative of Africa’s agricultural system.

While speaking at the occasion, Makinde, who lauded the company for coming up with ideas that can help to eradicate hunger, promised that his administration would ensure the creation of a conducive atmosphere for the private sector to thrive in the state.

The governor noted that FarmKonnect has shown that one can actually live in Nigeria and with a click of a button get already demarcated farmland in other parts of Africa and beyond.

Makinde, represented by the Chief of Staff, Chief Bisi Ilaka, added that farmers have always had challenges with aggregation, storage, and transportation of their goods. He said the ideas brought by FarmKonnect would bridge the gaps, apart from catering for farmers that do not have bank accounts and would also encourage collective farming, instead of the age-long practice of farming in isolation.

Oluwole, the Chief Executive Officer of FarmKonnect Agribusiness Nigeria, while speaking, noted that it was time the country looked towards deliberate and aggressive collaborative investments into food security.

He added that food insecurity would lead to scarcity, scarcity would breed conflict, describing the conflict as the father of war.

Oluwole said: “We may build other sectors as safety nests, but if hunger takes away our security, the safety nest will be plundered.

He said the Agricultural Electronic Centre, was aimed at promoting agriculture in Nigeria and Africa at large, by producing a generation of smart farmers who are data-conscious and can make data-driven decisions in their respective endeavours in the agricultural value chains.

Oluwole disclosed that the two components of the initiative are FarmKonnect Agricultural Electronic extension Service Centre (FAgEX) and FarmKonnect Institute for Data and Agricultural Studies (FIDAS).

He noted that both efforts have the specific goal to provide input services to stakeholders in the agricultural value chains through Information Technology, training, research and business/professional consulting.