Professors in the Agriculture Faculty, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, have trained Nigerian farmers on farm risk management through adoption of insurance and rural e-commerce.

The training, which took place on Tuesday in the university,  is titled, “Endline dissemination workshop for the advancing local leadership, innovation and networks.’’

The programme was funded by Feed The Future Innovation LAB for Markets, Risks and Resilience, the USAID and the International Centre for Evaluation and Development.

In her paper presentation, a Principal Investigator of the Feed the Future programme, Opeyemi Ayinde, said that the training was to encourage farmers to build resilience using technology and financial innovation.

According to her, there is a need for farmers to embrace innovative farming techniques and the use of improved stress-tolerant maize seeds.

Ms Ayinde, an expert in agricultural economics, explained that if such innovation was mixed with financial inclusion such as insurance, credit, and financial literacy, it would help in the reduction of risks faced by farmers in Nigeria.

She said the research also focused on the training of women farmers like their male counterparts to make the research inclusive.

She noted, “The women farmers are not supposed to be neglected. The result showed that the male and female farmers, when presented with the same opportunity, better the farming community.’’

Also in her presentation, a programme researcher, Khadijat Amolegba, explained that the farmers were also trained in digital literacy, output market access and rural e-commerce.

She explained that with the training, farmers were now able to access markets beyond their immediate communities.

“They can sell their products in the market far away from them, and they can even access international markets to sell their products. The farmer will get better income from accessing data markets while investing in their agricultural space, leading to increased food production and food security,” she said.

Earlier, the Director of Research for the International Centre for Evaluation and Development, Kwadwo Mensah, explained that ALL-IN research projects were looking at flipping the traditional model for research collaboration.

According to him, local researchers are funded to carry out studies in Africa by US researchers.

He stated, “Foreign-based researchers lack the context and also the local understanding of what actually happens on the African continent. The greatest challenge to African farmers included markets, risks, resilience and innovation. If farmers have a fair idea about the market and how to promote their products and also understand issues of risk of finances and climate, then they need to be resilient.’’

In his address, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Wahab Egbewole, said that the essence of the study was to ensure farmers had direct access to markets.

Mr Egbewole, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics, Olubunmi Omotesho, explained that agriculture was associated with risks, hence the need to mitigate such risks.

He advised the farmers on the need for insurance and better financial inclusion, such as credits. 

(NAN)