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Development partners Digital and Technological Empowerment Innovation Initiative for Next Generation (DIniti8tive) and Agropedia earlier this month convened stakeholders in an online dialogue involving farmer groups, researchers, policy makers and innovators.
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Declaring the event open, Sharon Ayeni, a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of DIniti8tive, who spoke through the Co-Founder and Managing Partner Dr Fidelis Ekom noted said despite the dim hope caused by unannounced floods, overstretched droughts and harvest loss “because the climate has changed faster than our systems have adapted”, that “across the continent, innovators, researchers, policymakers and agripreneurs are building AI tools that predict climate shocks, developing drought-resistant systems, strengthening seed value chains, restoring degraded land and designing market structures that help farmers not just survive but thrive.”
This she said was the reason for the webinar.
Beyond the insightful keynote address by Ogheneovo Ugbebor of Ikore International which Tech Economy has written on (add link), the webinar featured a robust panel session that explored practical, scalable solutions for mitigating climate risks and strengthening food security in Nigeria and across Africa.
The discussants included Munir Ahmed, project coordinator at IITA and the Islamic Development Bank; Nazeer Ahmad, Thematic Coordinator Rural Structure Formation at Extension Africa; Ronke Adeniyi, programme manager at the Environmental and Economic Resource Centre; Chief Bassey Archibong, CEO of Agropedia; Dr. Rufus Idris, country director of AGRA; and Daniel Udeme-Joseph, the Founder of Farm Monitor Africa who are experts across technology, agronomy, rural development, and market systems, examined how farmers and agribusinesses can adapt to increasingly volatile climate conditions.
Line-up of speakersRonke Adeniyi who has worked with farmers in various regions picked out water harvesting, solar irrigation, organic soil amendment, early warning systems and improved seed varieties as scalable methods that work best in helping farmers manage floods, droughts and declining soil health.
She also encouraged that “we should create waterways so that water can always find its level. We can also build water dikes that can be a form of embankment for water, so it does not wash away our farmlands.”
Discussions also centered on climate financing, as Munir Ahmed of the IITA/IsDB informed various farmer groups present such as the Association of Rice Farmers of Nigeria, Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria and Fish Farmers Association of Nigeria of the climate insurance schemes tailored to smallholder farmers.
He emphasized that money must be put in the upstream (production stage) of agriculture and not just in the downstream (processing) sectors of agricultural production, “channel more monies into research and seed development to enhance derisking mechanisms, lower production cost and increase output/harvest.”
Agropedia’s Chief Bassey Archibong shared the unique challenges of women and youth-led agric enterprises and noted that most farmers lack financial buffers to recover from climate shocks, leading to massive income losses, reduced planting seasons, and worsening poverty cycles.
“We work in a number of communities in Adamawa, Gombe and Borno States and what we see is a lot of light harvest. A lot of women lost their crops just because there was a dry spell for more than 3 weeks”, he said.
He said women involvement in the design and management of agric tools and application is germane for effectiveness.
He and others called for innovative insurance solutions, public-private partnerships, and supportive policies that de-risk climate investments.
Mr Nazeer Ahmad of Extension Africa demonstrated how data driven tools and digital platforms enhance small -holder farmers’ resistance to climate shock especially in regions with poor connectivity and no extension.
“Digital extension services provide farmers with accurate, timely and personalized information via mobile application, via IPI calls”.
He however added that connectivity and digital literacy remains very low, limiting the adoption of these digital services, “so there is a need for collaboration between partners. There’s a need for the government to come in and set up internet infrastructure to enable farmers to utilize all those digital services.”
He mentioned Extension Africa’s Precision Development that promotes climate advisory services and the Intelligent Agriculture Systems Tool, the Plantic disease diagnosis application and how they give pre-season and inseason prompts to farmers on flood, drought, when to apply fertilizer etc. all of which “translate to increase in yield for farmers”.
This is as Dr. Rufus Idris dissected the socio-economic implications of climate risks, noting that unpredictable weather patterns have made traditional knowledge insufficient for modern farming.
Drawing from AGRA’s current intervention in Africa, Idris noted key lessons that stand out in building climate resilience at scale, he emphasized that access to real-time climate information, improved resilience planning, regenerative agriculture and community-level capacity building must take precedence.
Likewise Daniel Udeme-Joseph, CEO of Farm Monitor Africa during his much anticipated experiential sharing spoke on interventions at Farm Monitor such as the Automated Climate-Smart Ai-Powered Crop Calendar, (seed, fertilizer) Input Advisory and Alternative Credit Score, Crop Yield Predictor and Monitoring; “so we essentially act as bank within the bank to reach farmers on the ground, and then with the use of farm monitor, they’re able to get credit to buy inputs, improve seedlings and pay for services like mechanisation.”
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Reeling out results, Udeme-Joseph declared that Farm Monitor works with 350,000 farmers across four States of Nigeria, as well as in Uganda, and have helped to increase their average yield by 35%, household income by 31%, input cost reduction by 21% and adoption of climate-smart practices
that interventions and funding in agriculture should go beyond the upstream processing sector to the downstream production sector. He called for an organised farmer credit information management system to ensure equitable distribution of loan facilities.
These experts warned that technology must be accompanied by training, infrastructure, and affordability mechanisms to ensure broad adoption.
They stressed that climate-smart agriculture cannot be optional; it is a necessity for long-term food sustainability.
The panel session further underscored the importance of market access and strengthening value chains. Climate risk management, they argued, must include strategies that ensure farmers can profitably sell their produce despite environmental challenges. Interventions such as cold-chain logistics, storage technologies, and stable aggregation systems were recommended.
Qestions were taken from participants who needed support with research, funding and mentorship.
Panelists listed opportunities in severance research institutes, built connections and promised to share data and collaborate in projects and sustainability.
The next steps session was led by Udeme-Joseph of Farm Monitor while Emeka Nwankwo, the Managing Partner and Co Founder of DIniti8tive expressed the organisation’s readiness to continue in the quest for tech inclusion in agriculture, finance, education, health etc.
Throughout the panel, DIniti8tive’s role in convening multi-sector stakeholders was repeatedly acknowledged as crucial for bridging the knowledge gap and promoting collaborative action. The discussion concluded with a call for sustained engagement and the implementation of insights shared during the webinar.
The post Experts at DIniti8tive-Agropedia Webinar Outline Practical Climate Risk Mitigation Measures appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.
