WOFAN offers drone, technology training to 60 extension workers to boost food productivity

THE WOMEN FARMERS AD VANCEMENT NETWORK (WOFAN) has commenced training of 60 extension workers from four Nigerian states in the operation of drones and other technologies aimed at advancing agricultural productivity in the country.

Salamatu Garba, executive director of the community development organisation, while speaking with journalists, said the 60 extension workers would after the training, engage 100 farmers on the application of modern farm technologies.

Garba stressed that the training also includes exposing the farmers and extension workers to insurance facilities to secure their investments.

“We invited 60 extension workers from four states in Nigeria to train them on ICT led technology in agriculture and specifically, we are looking at the use of what we call RiceAdvice,” she added.

RiceAdvice, she explained, is an application that farmers and extension workers can utilise to gather information on climate change and weather forecasts.

Speaking on the use of drones in increasing productivity and capturing data, she said the extension workers would be trained on the simple use of drone services and experts would also be made available to demonstrate the operation of the drone services and ensure proper acquisition of the required skills.

The population size of Nigeria, she said, is increasing daily, necessitating utilisation of technology to boost agricultural production.

“It means we have to look for technology and methods to which we can meet the food demand of Nigeria, it is only when we invest in such services that we can assist in providing food, which is going to be the next thing to knock off non-oil economic production in the country”, she explained.

Speaking on the cost of the equipment, she stressed that the organisation started investing in technology equipment last year and the available equipment would be provided as grants to the trainees who would in turn, aid local farmers in crop production processes.

Commenting on the purchase of drones, she said it is not possible to buy such an expensive technology, but the organisation is initiating an agreement with the respective technology companies to ensure they rent their equipment to the farmers at subsidised rates.