By Angeline Mgbele, Bureau Chief, Northern Nigeria
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has called for the development of integrated digital infrastructure to expand agricultural extension services and provide millions of Nigerian farmers with timely and reliable information.
Per a press statement e-signed by the Director of Corporate Communications and Media Relations at NITDA, Hajiya Hadiza Umar, the Director-General of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, made the call at the Africa Agribusiness Extension Summit (AAES) 2026, organised by Extension Africa in partnership with NITDA in Abuja, north central, Nigeria.
Represented by the Director of e-Government, Engr. Salisu Kaka, Mallam Abdullahi said Nigeria could no longer rely solely on conventional face-to-face extension services to meet the needs of its growing farming population.
Abdullahi 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 an interconnected digital ecosystem rather than creating isolated platforms. He identified interoperability, scalability, security and reliable data as essential to building effective digital agricultural services.
Abdullahi also highlighted AI’s potential to analyse agricultural trends, provide recommendations and support early-warning systems that could help farmers respond to emerging threats.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, similarly advocated increased investment in digital agricultural extension services to modernise farming, improve productivity and strengthen food security.
Senator Kyari said the conventional extension system had weakened over the years, with the ratio of farmers to extension agents increasing significantly in many areas. Kyari therefore called for digital platforms that could deliver weather alerts, market information, crop-disease advice and other agricultural information through mobile phones and other channels.
The Agriculture Minister stressed that digital solutions must be designed around farmers’ realities and should complement, rather than replace, conventional extension services and also called for greater investment by state governments, increased participation of young people and deliberate efforts to reach women farmers.
Kyari noted that improving productivity among millions of farmers would be critical to meeting Nigeria’s rising food demand, adding that better access to agricultural knowledge and advisory services could contribute to improved livelihoods and food security.
The Chief Executive Officer of Extension Africa, Tajudeen Yahaya, said the organisation was established to address gaps in Africa’s agricultural extension system and strengthen last-mile advisory services.
Mr. Yahaya identified people, data, technology and partnerships as key pillars for building an effective extension system. He called for stronger collaboration among government, private-sector organisations, development partners and technology companies to overcome fragmentation in agricultural extension.
Yahaya said Extension Africa, established in 2021, had grown to about 7,000 extension workers across 16 states and reached more than one million farmers.
He 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.
