Emerging Voices in ICT and agriculture - CTA Publishing

USING ICTS TO BRIDGE THE AGRICULTURAL
EXTENSION GAP AND IMPROVE MARKET
ACCESS IN NIGERIA
Samuel Anthony Itodo,
Nigeria, West Africa
Youth can play a huge role
in the development of their
communities. We have an
imminent food security challenge
when young people shy
away from agriculture, leaving
this sensitive field to an ageing
population.
I grew up in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State
of Nigeria. My family was involved in agriculture.
From the age of 10, I had learned how to till the
soil and sow staple crops such as maize, groundnuts
and rice. At one stage I owned my own small
soybean farm.
When I was 14, I maintained a small poultry farm,
rearing birds such as broilers and turkeys. I
intend to invest in agriculture. My love for the
sciences informed my decision to do engineering
in school. I graduated with a degree in petroleum
engineering from the University of Port Harcourt,
Nigeria in 2009. In high school I dreamt
of winning a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. I still hope
to win one in literature as I pursue my love in
poetry and story writing.
ARDYIS brought intelligent young people to gether
and the network I have created with these brilliant
young minds has been very beneficial in my
day-to-day endeavours.
Favourite website: I would choose www.google.
com, because for me it is the gateway to other
sites, besides its versatility in terms of Google
maps, docs, reader, etc.
My blog: http://poeticfarmer.wordpress.com
Contact: rutherford2forlife@yahoo.com
Essay summary
practical approach to linking farmers with
A new information technologies has the
potential to improve the small-scale agriculture
sector in Nigeria. Using ICTs to map land
resources and markets could help solve some of
country’s most pressing agricultural problems,
which include low productivity and scant opportunities
for farmers to sell their produce at
decent prices. Geo-mapping, used to identify the
potential of land for farming and its suitability
for specific crop and livestock production, can
| 26 Emerging Voices in ICT and agriculture | PART 2