Lack of basic infrastructure, digital literacy, poor network connectivity, and insufficient funding have been identified as major factors slowing the adoption of artificial intelligence among rural farmers in Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview with AIbase reporter Ugochukwu Levi, Arinze Chijioke, an investigative journalist on agriculture, said one of the major challenges confronting Nigerian farmers is the difficulty of leveraging the artificial intelligence tools needed for effective agricultural practice.
Arinze noted that artificial intelligence is a welcome development, given its impact in detecting crop diseases, predicting weather patterns, monitoring soil health and fertility, providing market insights, and connecting farmers to potential buyers.
“Yes, it’s a welcome development because it has really helped farmers to engage productively in farming activities, except that not all farmers have access to these tools,” he said.
According to him, a larger share of farmers in Nigeria are based in rural communities, where significant infrastructure gaps and widespread digital illiteracy pose major barriers to effective engagement with AI-powered farming. He added that the government’s reluctance to bridge these gaps has further discouraged farmers.
He also expressed dissatisfaction over what he described as poor cooperation from government agencies, revealing that doors were shut against him after publishing three consecutive reports on the challenges facing rural farmers and possible solutions.
“Most of these government agencies do not open their doors, especially when they discover that it’s not just reporting from the surface but that you want to go deeper. They will shut their doors. If you check my profile, you will find some reports I did concerning farmers’ welfare, and at a stage, a commissioner stopped picking up my calls,” he disclosed.
Arinze further identified the lack of transparency in government interventions and grants for farmers as another major challenge. He lamented that such interventions are often not made public, allowing non-farmers to benefit at the expense of those directly involved in food production.
“But even when these interventions and grants are available from the government, they are not in the public domain, and at the end, those who are not farmers will get them,” he added.
He therefore called on government, non-governmental organisations, and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector to collaborate to ensure that Nigerian farmers effectively leverage artificial intelligence for greater productivity.
According to him, urban farmers are more exposed to the opportunities and demands of artificial intelligence than their rural counterparts, who make up the bulk of actual food producers.
He advocated for the prompt disbursement of grants and credit facilities, the promotion of mechanised agriculture, improved security for farmers, and the provision of basic farming equipment, so that AI deployment can become meaningful and impactful.
Speaking on the broader African context, Arinze stressed that more efforts are needed to address poor digital literacy, inadequate network connectivity, and insufficient funding, particularly through support from NGOs and development partners, to create a level playing field for farmers across the continent.
He noted that improving these critical areas would help Nigerian farmers keep pace with technological innovation and enhance agricultural productivity nationwide.
Senior Reporter/Editor
Bio: Ugochukwu is a freelance journalist and Editor at AIbase.ng, with a strong professional focus on investigative reporting. He holds a degree in Mass Communication and brings extensive experience in news gathering, reporting, and editorial writing. With over a decade of active engagement across diverse news outlets, he contributes in-depth analytical, practical, and expository articles exploring artificial intelligence and its real-world impact. His seasoned newsroom experience and well-established information networks provide AIbase.ng with credible, timely, and high-quality coverage of emerging AI developments.