Economy

Digital Farming Can Tackle Nigeria’s Food Shortage

Published

8 years ago

19/09/2018

By Adeniyi Ogunfowoke

World food agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Food Programme have, on several occasions, raised an alarm over the looming and impending danger of food shortage in Nigeria. Both agencies, as of March 2018, said that it is possible for food shortage to affect 5.8 million Nigerians.

Despite the large expanse of land that cuts across the country from the North, South, East and West, it’s very shocking and rather sad that there’s not enough food to go round.

But then, this was not the case in the past. Agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy: groundnut pyramids from the north; cocoa from the west; and kola nut from the east.

In 1956, Nigeria struck something sweeter and juicier than agriculture. On that fateful day, in the village of Oloibiri, the country discovered oil and agriculture took a back seat.

The country literarily abdicated and abandoned every other sector for oil thus making the Nigerian economy a mono-product economy. From one oil boom to another, Nigeria was revelling in the pool of petrol dollars while agriculture that has the possibility of gainfully employing and feeding Nigerians took the backseat. Agriculture cried and cried for attention but was neglected. This is why some people have described oil as a ‘curse’ rather than a blessing to the country.

Now, agriculture is very frail and everyone including the government is running helter-skelter to revive it. And oil has lost its fanfare.

Interestingly, technology has a solution for almost every problem. In the case of agriculture, digital farming is the tech innovation being used to solve the Nigerian food crises. Digital farming or agriculture is the use of new and advanced technologies, integrated into one system, to enable farmers and other stakeholders within the agriculture value chain to improve food production.

How digital farming works

Technology as earlier said has a solution for almost everything. It simply depends on how you deploy it. For those who ‘hate’ farming, digital farming is perfect for you. And the story of digital farming is incomplete without referencing Farmcrowdy. Farmcrowdy can be described as the first digital farm in Nigeria.

With digital farming, you do not need to own a farm. You simply invest your money in any of the available farms advertised on the digital farm platform and at the end of the harvesting cycle, you get your return on investment plus interest. The reason why this works is that digital farm platform provides support for farmers to guarantee improved crop yield and preservation of harvest. This will, in turn, reduce food waste and increase food production.

The e-commerce is a foolproof business model that has been tried and tested by Jumia, Nigeria’s no 1 shopping destination and it has really been successful so far. As such, it is nonplus that the e-commerce business model is being replicated in other sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Can digital farming tackle food shortage in Nigeria?

Food shortage is a threat to Nigeria’s existence. This is not supposed to be the case in Nigeria because of the availability of large expanse of fertile lands. Thankfully, digital farming arrived and every Nigerian now has the opportunity to play a role in Agriculture even though they do not need to work on the farm. This is the real catch. Therefore, it is very possible for digital farming to tackle food shortage.

Digital farmers cannot do it alone. All stakeholders must come together to find a solution to the food shortage crises in Nigeria. For now, the digital farmers can only do as much.

Economy

Unlisted Securities Index Rises 0.91%

Published

2 hours ago

23/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

A 0.91 per cent growth was recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, May 22, after the share prices of four securities ended in green.

According to data, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc went up by N15.61 to N179.67 per share from N164.06 per share, Newrest Asl Plc grew by N6.11 to N67.26 per unit from N61.15 per unit, Food Concepts Plc appreciated by 17 Kobo to N2.75 per share from N2.58 per share, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc added 6 Kobo to sell at N25.50 per unit compared with the previous day’s N25.44 per unit.

At the close of business, the market capitalisation chalked up N23.22 billion to settle at N2.561 trillion versus Thursday’s N2.538 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 38.81 points to 4,281.28 points from 4,242.47 points.

During the session, the price of Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was down by N3.13 to N71.07 per share from N74.20 per share.

The activity chart showed that the volume of securities transacted by the market participants decreased yesterday by 81.6 per cent to 590,339 units from the 3.2 million units recorded on Thursday, as the number of deals shrank by 28.6 per cent to 30 deals from the 42 deals recorded a day earlier, while the value of securities increased by 0.5 per cent to N95.3 million from the preceding session’s N94.8 million.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 61.2 million units traded for N4.1 billion.

The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was GNI Plc, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.

Economy

Stock Investors Gain N344bn amid Decline in Transactions

Published

2 hours ago

23/05/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange witnessed a decline in transactions on Friday despite closing higher by 0.22 per cent on the back of sustained bargain-hunting.

During the last trading session of the week, investors transacted 711.9 million equities valued at N29.1 billion in 62,386 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities worth N31.0 billion traded in 62,448 deals in the previous day, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 35.28 per cent, 6.13 per cent, and 0.10 per cent, respectively.

Fidelity Bank closed the day as the most active stock with the sale of 198.1 million units for N4.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 69.7 million units worth N1.8 billion, Mutual Benefits exchanged 42.7 million units valued at N197.4 million, Japaul transacted 33.9 million units worth N134.4 million, and Zenith Bank sold 24.4 million units valued at N3.2 billion.

Yesterday, the industrial goods index rose by 0.53 per cent, the consumer goods sector jumped 0.28 per cent, the banking industry improved by 0.25 per cent, and the energy counter soared by 0.18 per cent, while the insurance space shed 0.18 per cent.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 536.98 points to finish at 249,712.37 points compared with the previous day’s 249,175.39 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N344 billion to N160.077 trillion from N159.733 trillion.

Aluminium Extrusion and DAAR Communications expanded by 10.00 per cent each to sell for N9.90 and N2.09, respectively, RT Briscoe surged by 9.93 per cent to N14.06, Learn Africa increased by 9.79 per cent to N12.90, and Red Star Express advanced by 9.56 per cent to N34.95.

On the flip side, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.92 per cent to N5.72, Livestock Feeds dipped by 9.64 per cent to N8.90, The Initiates crashed by 8.65 per cent to N33.80, Ellah Lakes drowned by 8.64 per cent to N10.05, and Neimeth lost 6.36 per cent to trade at N10.30.

Economy

Naira Slips by N3.15 Against Dollar to Trade N1,375/$1 at Official Market

Published

2 hours ago

23/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira weakened against the United States Dollar by N3.15 or 0.23 per cent to N1,375.46/$1 from N1,372.31/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, May 22.

It was also a similar situation for the domestic currency against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday, as it lost N9.46 to sell for N1,849.72/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,840.26/£1, and against the Euro, it depreciated by N6.26 to close at N1,597.04/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,590.78/€1.

At the GTBank FX desk, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the Dollar during the session by N2 to trade at N1,381/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,379/$1, and at the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,390/$1.

Analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited, in their weekly financial outlook, have projected the Naira will remain under soft pressure in near term due to continuous FX demand.

“Looking ahead, the Naira may remain under mild pressure in the near term due to persistent FX demand, though rising external reserves could help cushion volatility,” they noted.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this week reiterated that it would continue with its current policy direction to sustain the fight against inflation and stabilise the exchange rate.

This comes as the FX market has changed significantly under the ongoing reforms introduced by the apex bank, with increased market liquidity reducing the need for heavy intervention by the CBN. Its intervention currently accounts for only about 1.2 to 1.3 per cent of total market turnover in 2025, a development he said reflects the growing strength of the market.

Turnover has risen sharply from about $100 million in 2023 to roughly $550 million presently, with transactions occasionally climbing to as high as $1 billion in a single day.

A look at the cryptocurrency market showed that it was down on Friday as Mr Kevin Warsh was sworn in by President Donald Trump as the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, replacing Mr Jerome Powell, who will continue as a governor in the US central bank.

The appointment was made in the hope that he would lead the central bank to cut interest rates, but the Iran war has sent oil prices soaring and re-ignited what had been cooling inflation.

Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 5.5 per cent to $2,010.90, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 5.2 per cent to trade at $0.1001, Cardano (ADA) fell by 5.0 per cent to $0.2389, Solana (SOL) slipped by 4.9 per cent to $82.69, and Bitcoin (BTC) slid by 3.3 per cent to $74,950.02.

Further, Ripple (XRP) went down by 2.9 per cent to $1.32, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 2.6 per cent to $641.61, and TRON (TRX) shrank by 1.2 per cent to $0.3606, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.