Our CEO, Akindele Phillips recently participated in the Global South-South Cooperation Forum which was organized by the International Labour Organisation in conjunction with The Cooperazione Italiana Allo Sviluppo and International Training Centre. The forum was held as a virtual event on the 11th of October and themed Livelihoods, Employment, and Inclusion for Vulnerable Groups.
During the event, Akindele explained how Farmcrowdy has been able to promote an inclusive environment in the Nigerian agricultural sector. According to him, Farmcrowdy, at its inception, started out by encouraging the wider participation of youths in the value chain. Akindele revealed that it has been predicted that Nigeria is likely to double its current population of over 200 million people by the year 2050, unlike many other African countries. He expressed that a future overpopulation might be detrimental to the economy, especially, since Nigeria is still battling consistent food deficiency problems. He suggested that it will be very imperative to have all hands – including the youths – actively engaged in agriculture to solve the current food problems before the year 2050.
Akindele doing a presentation
“Farmcrowdy identified major pain points through the farmers. We are targeting over 70% of the population of the country directly or indirectly involved in agriculture and most of them are smallholder farmers. Getting across to smallholder farmers one step at a time could help solve the food deficiency problem. In performing this task we identified four major problems; access to funding, access to superior markets, access to viable input, access to good agronomic practices.” – Akindele
Akindele further highlighted Farmcrowdy’s involvement in including local canteen caterers and owners in the food chain in order to promote more efficiency in those sectors. In his words, “Canteen caterers want to serve their customers the best foods that are affordable, hygienic. They would want the kind of protein that is hygienic and easily traceable to ensure there are no health issues. We talk to the farmers that provide these requirements by encouraging them to adopt the use of technology through us.”
When it comes to providing solutions through the use of technology for the local smallholder farmers, adequate access to the internet still stands as a major barrier. Identifying limiting issues such as this and exploring solutions would further enhance the activities of agritech companies like Farmcrowdy.
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