Climate Smart Agriculture: A new oil boom in Nigeria

Innovation For Africa (IFA) is a program that is designed to explore the innovation ecosystem in Africa. It is geared towards tooling young talented and aspiring innovators to take over the entrepreneurial space in Africa and beyond through innovation. The program in extension inculcates core values of growth mindset, grit, innovate, diversity, inclusivity and collaboration on it fellows for them to meet hiring needs of startups.

IFA program comprises of Personal branding, Design thinking, Hard skills and Strategy. The Design thinking corner has various features but Hackathon seems to be one of the most interesting tasks.

Hackathon has six stages including the task of pitch, mix, hack, feedback, iterate, and present. IFA Fellows are given the task to identify problems and brainstorm solutions. These are what startups want.

As part of activities required in the IFA 2021 cycle, we were placed in a team of "like minds" to create sustainable solutions challenging food security in Nigeria. Our team members Ochanya Adah, Uchenna Nwafor, Adeyinka Meduoye, Umar Abdulhaffiz and I (Archibong Akpan). Then, the most innovative technique to solve the Food security crises in Nigeria was Climate Smart Agriculture. As an expert in the field, Climate Smart Agriculture is a farm technique used to boost agricultural production and farm income, build farmers' resilience to climate change and mitigate Greenhouse gases emissions from farms.

During the Primary Market Research (PMR), we conducted series of survey and asked farmers specific questions on the challenges the encounter during farming activities.

Question 1: Are you presently facing difficulties in crop production?

Farmers' answer: Yes, of course. We are facing difficulties.

Question 2. Since you said Yes, what sort of difficulties are you presently facing?

Farmers' answer: Up North, where over 70% of Nigeria's crop production channels from; there are flooding issues, which washes away the topsoil which is the richest part of the soil and contains organic matter and other crop nutrients and deposits elsewhere. Another difficulty is wet weather; If soil is too moist it can result in poor conditions for the crops to grow; when soil is well drained then the oxygen, nutrients and trace elements that the plant needs are available.

Also, pollution of the water (river) basin affects crop production. When waters are polluted, it cannot be used in watering the crops, and when used, it affects the growth of crops, leading to their crops dying. Another one is the FG's current agricultural policy on payment of fertilizers by farmers, which we have been getting for free before now.

Question 3: How does the payment of fertilizers affect crop production?

Farmers ' answer: Imagine something we have been getting for free, and suddenly they asked us to start paying for it. Won't it affect us? He asked. Most of the farmers are very poor, and a vast majority of us cannot afford money for buying fertilizers.

Question 4. Aside these, what other challenges are you facing in this regard?

Farmers' answer: Food security; You know there is high insecurity in Nigeria presently. Most farmers are being disturbed dastardly by unknown forces during farming. Sometimes, our crops and harvests are being eaten and destroyed due to cattle invasion. You should know the rest; I can't say much on that.

Question 5. Cattle invasion!!! What does that mean?

Farmers' answer: Don't tell me you haven't seen the news of late. It is seldomly reported as news that there is always cattle invasion on farmlands within the nation's borders. The government will always look sideways without batting an eyelid. He uttered grudgingly.

Question 6. If you were to tackle this challenge, what will you do?

Farmers' answer: I will advise the FG to eradicate the fertilizer's payment policy. They should ensure the non-pollution of the water basins in the South-Eastern part of the country. And they should come up with an innovative approach in dealing with low crop production.

Question 7. What about the use of farm machinery to boost crop production?

Farmers' answer: Of course. That will be very great. For both of us, we will embrace it since it will help boost our crop yield.

Question 8. What has been your farming experience been like?

Farmers' answer: I don't want to say it's difficult because it's tradition. Almost everyone you see(northern I believe because there is a lot of farming) is farming while working. I plant to supplement my income and provide for my mother.

Question 9. What are the difficulties you face?

Farmers' answer: Pests, complicated farming processes due to inability to mechanize as a subsistence farmer, changes in the weather causing unpredictability in rainfall and increase in heat preventing natural storage causing us to sell at a cheap rate to traders.

Question 10. What other challenges do you face as a farmer?

Farmers' answer: Poor Marketing, capital, improved varieties.

With the story telling/capture, journey mapping, empathy, why/how/ladder techniques we deployed during the interviews with farmers produced thrilling insights from farmers' experience and our "How might we" approach was painstakingly evaluated.

As a Fellow, so far, it has been a great experience to learn and share ideas with the IFA team and expect to build innovative projects for startups and customers.