Founder of Feedup Africa, Jinmi Ajayi , has shared his insights on the challenges facing smallholder farmers in Nigeria and the need for a comprehensive approach to enhance farm productivity.
Ajayi in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, expressed concerns about the accessibility of smartphones among farmers, stating, “With only 40 million smartphones out of 200 million active mobile phones in Nigeria, it’s uncertain how many smallholder farmers will benefit from the web application.”
He pointed out the need for a gradual understanding of the web application’s efficiency.
Regarding the education level of subsistent farmers, Ajayi noted that many young people are engaging in small-scale farming, with some having secondary school or tertiary institution education.
“Many young people are engaging in small-scale farming, with a significant number having ‘secondary school or tertiary institution education’,” he said.
As the Founder of Feedup Africa, an organisation combating food insecurity on the African continent, Ajayi highlighted their efforts in sensitisation programs on nutrition and good production practices for farmers.
“Feedup Africa, an organisation dedicated to combating food insecurity in Africa, has implemented sensitisation programs on nutrition and good farming practices.
“while supporting farmers is crucial, food security also requires partnerships and collaborative efforts, ‘Food security is not just about supporting farmers, but also about fostering partnerships and collective action’”,he said.
He commended the government’s efforts in distributing rice across states but emphasised the need for individual support, stating, “We cannot rely solely on government efforts; individuals must also contribute to support farmers.”
Ajayi advocated for cluster farming, infrastructural development, and accessibility to farms, rather than providing tractors to individual farmers.
“Let’s expand the capacity of existing farmers,” he said, stressing the need for a collaborative approach to boost farm productivity.
He noted the importance of partnerships and support for existing farmers, saying, “We need to support farmers with infrastructural development, accessibility to their farms, and aggregation of farms.
“This would create an environment where entrepreneurs can provide equipment and services to farmers, reducing costs,”he added.
Ajayi concluded by stressing the need to focus on expanding the capacity of existing farmers rather than encouraging more people to enter agriculture. “we don’t need too many people going into agriculture, let’s just expand the capacity of the existing farmers.”
Boluwatife Enome
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