As part of efforts to strengthen the value chain processes in agriculture, especially among smallholder farmers in Nigeria, the Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture, in partnership with IITA–CGIAR, launched the Ogun State Farmer Information Management System (OGFIMS) on 20 April 2023.
OGFIMS, funded by the World Bank, is a joint digital agriculture initiative that is part of the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project (OGSTEP), aimed at supporting existing agricultural structures in the state.
Speaking at the launch, Ogun State Commissioner of Agriculture, Dr Adeola Odedina, said, “We want to make Ogun state the center of agricultural excellence, so our smallholder farmers can benefit from opportunities in programs that are strengthening the value chain. This can only happen if data is available, which is what OGFIMS is aiming for.”.
In partnership with IITA, the Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture will use OGFIMS to create an inclusive platform to drive sustainable supply for industries, thereby creating markets for smallholder farmers and supporting them to be part of linkage opportunities.
According to the IITA Digital Agriculture Working Team Lead and Head of IITA Germplasm Health Unit, Lava Kumar, “The digital platform possesses several functions that will contribute to improving production efficiency and performance of the value chains around food crops, horticulture and livestock in Ogun state.”
Kumar, who is also the OGFIMS development lead, added that “the multi-modular feature of OGFIMS includes functionalities for registering farmers and value chain actors (VCA) using tailor-made digital data collection forms, e-extension, knowledge sharing, communication, and coordination features that boost the Ogun State Agriculture transformation agenda.”
As part of this effort, IITA also coordinated the farmer and VCA registration, developing in-house capacity for sustainable use and management of the OGFIMS by the Ministry,” said Dr Oluseyi Olugbire, OGSTEP Project Manager.
During the ribbon cutting ceremony of the newly established OGFIMS control room, Ogun State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Hon. Olaolu Olabimtan, who was present at the launch, commended the efforts of the team and stated that the digital platform will add value to the agricultural road map in the State.
Access to data and information is one of the major areas that can propel result-oriented extension activities. The OGFIMS digital platform will serve as a one-stop resource for data, access to information, and coordination of farmers in Ogun State, and IITA is providing support to the Ministry of Agriculture in the state.
OGSTEP Taskforce World Bank Team Lead Abel Lufafa, while commending the collaborative effort of the team, stated that the platform would contribute immensely to information access for all the stakeholders in agriculture, not only in Ogun State but also across Nigeria.
In his goodwill message, Senior Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Agriculture, Dr Adelaja-Kuye, said the digital platform would serve as a repository of information for value-chain actors and a game changer in agriculture for the State.
Head of IITA Communication, Katherine Lopez, who moderated discussions, said the platform would contribute to research adoption, and impact the lives of millions of farmers.
During the demo session, Busayo Ogunya and Tunde Ajayi displayed the services and applications available to stakeholders on the platform’s front-end and back-end, including the registration of farmers with information and data accessible in real time.
The IITA delegation included the OGFIMS project team, the Communication team, and IT and web developers.
Contributed by Timilehin Osunde
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