The Nigerian Women for Agriculture Progressive and Development Initiative (NWAPDI) on Thursday held its first Annual General Meeting (AGM) to mark its one-year anniversary.
The AGM brought together women farmers from all six geopolitical zones of the country to chart a way forward for Nigeria’s agricultural sector and how to improve their performance.
The group also unveiled some new initiatives during the meeting such as the FarmAssure technology, a new logo that captures the essence of the organisation, and the official NWAPDI website to cater for the needs of those who seek to know more about the organisation.
The FarmAssure initiative is a comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) system designed specifically for the agricultural sector. It integrates artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to help farmers, agribusinesses, exporters, and policymakers manage resources efficiently, improve supply chains, and enhance operational transparency.
The National Coordinator of the NWAPDI, Omolara Svensson, while speaking during the AGM, said the activity of the group so far has impacted the lives of women and youth farmers, with the support of the government and other farmers.
Svensson noted that the group is working to place Nigerian agriculture on the world map through the introduction of technologies that would transform the sector.
“We can’t stay where we are and expect change to come. As the world is evolving, we have to evolve alongside the world as it is, so what we are trying to do is make sure that we are evolving our grassroots farmers.”
While commending NWAPDI, the MD and CEO of the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC), Folashade Joseph, urged farmers to key into the various packages NAIC offers to prevent unwarranted losses.
“We do not want a situation whereby, due to natural disasters, the agricultural venture goes down. So we can’t help if there’s going to be a natural disaster due to climate change. So what we do is to assure our farmers that when there is a disaster, we pay their claims on time, and they go back to farming. And this is actually across the value chain.”
She called on farmers to organise themselves into cooperatives for easier access to NAIC platforms.
Also, Mr. Dion Croom, the President of one of the partner companies, an international technology and consulting firm specialising in digital solutions for emerging markets, Norcom, LLC, said his company is partnering with NWAPDI to bring technology to agriculture to support farmers in Nigeria.
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