In Nigeria, workers and farmers bring AI to the fields

With a few taps on his phone, Dan-Namgari knows exactly when to water his crops and even the pH of the soil.

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Backed by artificial intel-ligence, it’s all designed to make growing his peppers, eggplants and methods, other in a sort of agriculture 4.0 in Nigeria, where millions work in the sector, from subsistence farmers to, increasingly, young tech workers. With probes in the soil collecting data, processed by local agri-tech tool company, Green Edensell sends to his phone, “my production has increased by about 400 kilograms,” or 34 percent, said 34-year-old Namgor, who is also an IT analyst, told AFP during a visit to his greenhouse in Jos.

Farms on the Plateau State capital, sit-ting at 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) above sea level and known for its mild climate, have long fed the nation, with their fruits and vegetables ending up in markets across Nigeria.

But they haven’t been spared from climate change across Africa, where rainfall threatens farmers across West Africa, the majority of whom are smallholders who operate without irrigation.

“The stakes are high for the whole country; some 80 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP comes from agriculture. That was the simple problem, the weather, climate change,” said Stephanie Miltus, founder of Green Eden, whose tech has been deployed on more than 70 farms.

“That’s what we are trying to solve.”