WhatsApp for Agriculture: Digital Farming highlights the need for Digital Agriculture Extension

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I remember one time I was asked to walk 10 kilometers away from home to find a local buyer to sell our marakuja and papaya fruit so that my parents could pay my school fees. This buyer in turn walked 10 kilometers to sell the fruit in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital. There were no mobile phones to call each other; there was no other option but to walk these distances. In our village if anyone needed to use pesticide in their coffee plantation, they had to go house-by-house to find a pumping machine. As you can imagine, it would take a long time to ask the whole village.

Nowadays, I feel blessed that I can automatically open my smartphone to check new messages and chat with a group of young farmers on WhatsApp. Actually, these farmers are what I call “the hope for tomorrow.” When I access the WhatsApp group, I can…

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About Dr. Bukar USMAN, mni

I started as a field Veterinary officer with Borno State Ministry of Agriculture and later joined College of Agric, Maiduguri as a lecture & a Researcher in the Department of Animal Health & Production. I was appointed the Provost of the College In 2003. In 2007 I was appointed Hon. Commissioner & Member Borno State Executive Council and later appointed Permanent Secretary with the Borno State Civil Service in 2009. I was the National Facilitator Animal Health, National Programme For Food Security of the Federal Ministry of Agric & Rural Development, Abuja. I was Director, Veterinary Medicine & Allied Products (VMAP) and now Director North East Zone NAFDAC. I’m a member of the National Institute’ (mni), Kuru SEC 40, 2018. I engaged myself in various aspects of the veterinary profession. I founded Sril Group Ltd, Nigeria.

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