The Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), Mohammed Ibrahim, has called for a data-driven transformation of Nigeria’s agricultural sector, urging stakeholders to embrace innovation, technology, and evidence-based policymaking as key tools for achieving food security.
Ibrahim made the call on Thursday at the 25th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economists (NAAE) held at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.
He described the conference theme: “Rethinking Nigerian Agricultural Systems through Innovation, ICT and Food Systems,” as timely and critical to repositioning the nation’s agriculture for global competitiveness.
According to him, despite Nigeria’s vast land resources and human capital, agricultural progress continues to be hampered by the absence of reliable, timely, and coordinated data — a gap that undermines planning, resource allocation, and impact measurement across the value chain.
“This gap affects every link in our value chain — from identifying genuine farmers and mapping farmlands to tracking yields, forecasting demand, and evaluating impact,” Ibrahim noted.
Citing examples from Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda, the NADF boss highlighted how digital agriculture strategies had improved transparency, accountability, and efficiency in those countries — lessons, he said, that Nigeria must urgently adopt.
“Innovation is not an abstract concept — it is a matter of survival through creativity and collaboration,” he added.
Ibrahim disclosed that the Fund had developed an integrated digital platform to enhance agricultural financing and programme delivery. The system, created in partnership with private sector innovators, is designed to enable the Fund to track beneficiaries, monitor performance, and align interventions with national data systems.
“Our goal is simple — to ensure that every naira spent by the Fund translates into measurable, evidence-based impact,” he said.
He also underscored the role of startups and small enterprises in driving agricultural transformation, adding that the NADF was designing funding models to support agritech ventures that connect farmers to markets, finance, and information.
However, Ibrahim cautioned that technology and data must be complemented by strong intellectual input from agricultural economists and researchers, stressing that data must be translated into actionable insights capable of informing sound policies and investment decisions.
“Without reliable data, we cannot design effective subsidies, forecast yields, or evaluate impact. A government with funds but without credible statistics risks investing in shadows.
“If we can unite innovation with insight and ICT with integrity, we can build agricultural systems that are inclusive, efficient, and sustainable,” he added.
The NAAE conference, attended by academics, policymakers, and development partners, focuses on exploring new pathways for integrating innovation and digital technology into Nigeria’s food systems to enhance productivity and sustainability.