By Barbara Nwaiwu
The Federal Government, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and other stakeholders are exploring Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled digital extension to bridge Nigeria’s agricultural advisory services gap.
The stakeholders made this known on Wednesday in Abuja at a workshop on “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Digital Extension Across Agricultural Value Chains in Nigeria”, held under the UN Joint Programme on Agri-Food System Transformation and Innovation in Nigeria (AFTI).
Dr Kabir Yusuf, National Project Coordinator, Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ), said Nigeria’s extension service ratio remained between one extension agent to 5,000 and 10,000 farmers, compared with the often-referenced benchmark of one extension worker to between 800 and 1,000 farmers.
Yusuf said the shortage of extension personnel meant farmers often lost yield, quality and income to problems that could have been prevented through timely advice.
“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.
The stakeholders involved include the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), IFAD-assisted SAPZ, Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) and Digital Green Nigeria.
IFAD Country Director, Dede Ekoue, said AI-enabled digital extension could provide a practical mechanism for translating Nigeria’s agricultural policies into farmer-level services and measurable agrifood outcomes.
Ekoue said the technology could improve the timeliness and relevance of advisory messages by tailoring information to farmers’ locations, crops, seasons, weather conditions, pest and disease risks and market opportunities.
She, however, stressed that AI-enabled digital extension should complement, rather than replace, public extension systems and human advisory services.
“AI-enabled digital extension is strategically important for accelerating Nigeria’s agrifood systems transformation. 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.
Yusuf said SAPZ’s experience with Digital Green demonstrated the potential of AI to improve access to agricultural information.
He said the project deployed the FarmerChat AI advisory platform in Kano and Ogun for farmer registration, verification and monitoring.
According to him, FarmerChat provides weather updates, planting advisories and pest and disease guidance in Hausa and English through text, voice and images.
Yusuf said the project targeted 24,000 farmers and had onboarded 20,899, representing about 87% of the target.
“Of this number, 14,895 were in Kano and 6,004 in Ogun, while women accounted for 7,665 farmers, representing about 37% of those reached. We trained 233 extension agents, farmer champions and programme personnel, above the 220 we had planned for,” he said.
Yusuf said the platform had reduced waiting time for farmers seeking technical advice, particularly in Kano.
He said a rice farmer could photograph unfamiliar pest damage, send it as a voice note in Hausa and receive a diagnosis with practical guidance the same day.
He said the project had also shown that AI worked best when it complemented extension agents rather than attempting to replace them.
“The platform absorbs the frequent, seasonal questions, and that frees our agents from tedious diagnosis, demonstrations and the difficult field problems. Our assessment is that about 30% of this work is technology; the other 70% is human facilitation,” he said.
Yusuf said advisory content must be validated by institutions such as the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services (FDAES) and research institutes to ensure that information provided to farmers reflected local agro-ecological realities.
He also stressed the need for deliberate efforts to ensure inclusion, especially among women farmers.
“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%. That contrast tells us something important: intentionality is everything,” he said.
Yusuf identified smartphone ownership, internet connectivity, high data costs, unreliable electricity, low digital literacy and language barriers as challenges to expanding AI-enabled extension.
He said the challenges contributed to the project reaching 87% of its targeted farmers. Yusuf commended the Federal Government’s National Electronic Extension Platform and National Digital Farmers Registry.
He said combining AI advisory services, farmer registries, validated content and responsible data governance would strengthen agricultural extension and support national food security efforts.
“This national system, like AI advisory, farmer registries, content validation and responsible data governance moving in the same direction, will align with what the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Platform (NATIP) and Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) Kampala agenda call for,” Yusuf said.
