Explore AI to boost food security, expert urges stakeholders

Dr Bala Modi, Director, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Gombe State University, has urged stakeholders in agriculture to explore Artificial Intelligence (AI) to boost food security in the country.

Modi gave the advice in an interview with the newsmen in Gombe on Thursday.

He stated that with the growing population of the world, it had become imperative to leverage AI to achieve food availability for all citizens.

According to him, AI holds great promise for boosting Nigeria’s food security, as it intersects with precision agriculture, supply chain management and access to food.

He said AI enabled precision agriculture to optimise crop production by managing inputs, leading to increased productivity and resource efficiency.

“Today AI drives everything. Imagine a situation where people are using hoes and cutlasses and you want to sustain food security in a nation, it is not possible.

“We need machines that can massively harrow lands in thousands of hectares and production of thousands of bags of maize, rice and millet.

“These can only be done by machines which are driven by AI, that are programmes smart enough. We have censors attached to these machines that can map lands, harrow lands, plant seeds and harvest them en mass,” he said.

Modi, also an associate professor in Computer Network Security, said AI remained key to feeding the citizens of the country and boosting export produce to improve revenue and grow the economy.

He cited the example of a young farmer in Lagos, operating a greenhouse and making N4 million in a month.

He stated that with the right investment in AI, the agriculture sector would witness increased food availability and create jobs for the youth.

The ICT director urged stakeholders, including government at all levels to invest in AI to drive agricultural agenda and fast track the attainment of food security in the country.