The National Information Technology Development Agency has called for the development of integrated digital infrastructure to expand agricultural extension services and improve farmers’ access to timely and reliable information.
NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, made the call at the Africa Agribusiness Extension Summit 2026 in Abuja, organised by Extension Africa in partnership with the agency.
Represented by the Director of e-Government, Salisu Kaka, Inuwa said Nigeria could no longer depend solely on conventional face-to-face extension services to meet the needs of its growing farming population.
He said emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, could complement the existing extension workforce by connecting farmers with agricultural advisory services regardless of their location.
Inuwa identified interoperability, scalability, security and access to reliable data as critical to the development of effective digital agricultural services. He stressed that stakeholders should build an interconnected digital ecosystem rather than operate isolated platforms.
He also said AI could be used to analyse agricultural trends, provide recommendations and support early-warning systems that would enable farmers to respond more quickly to emerging threats.
Similarly, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, called for increased investment in digital agricultural extension services, noting that Nigeria’s conventional extension system had weakened over the years as the number of farmers continued to grow.
Kyari said digital platforms could provide farmers with services such as weather alerts and market information while improving access to agricultural knowledge and advisory support.
However, he stressed that digital tools should be developed around the realities of farmers and used to complement, rather than replace, conventional extension services.
The minister also urged state governments to increase their investment in agricultural extension, while calling for greater participation of young people and deliberate efforts to ensure women farmers are not left behind.
He said improving the productivity of millions of farmers would be essential to meeting Nigeria’s rising food demand, improving livelihoods and strengthening food security.
The Chief Executive Officer of Extension Africa, Tajudeen Yahaya, said the organisation was established to address weaknesses in Africa’s agricultural extension system and strengthen last-mile advisory services.
Yahaya identified people, data, technology and partnerships as key pillars of an effective extension system and called for stronger collaboration among governments, private-sector organisations, development partners and technology companies to address fragmentation in agricultural extension.
