MTN Foundation, FG, Ogun Launch Digital Platform To Empower Farmers

A partnership of the MTN Foundation, Ogun State Government and the Federal Government, has birthed a digital agriculture platform to empower farmers.

The platform, AgriConnect, which aims at empowering 1,000 smallholder farmers with mobile-enabled agricultural intelligence, was launched yesterday at the June 12 Cultural Centre in Kuto, Abeokuta.

Addressing guests, Executive Director of the MTN Foundation, Mrs. Odunayo Sanya, said the initiative would enhance food production by equipping farmers with critical digital tools and knowledge.

“Through AgriConnect, we are leveraging mobile-enabled agricultural intelligence to equip our smallholder farmers with real-time weather updates, market prices, and best practices that will improve yields and boost incomes”, Sanya stated.

She also highlighted MTN Foundation’s longstanding commitment to socio-economic development in Nigeria, including over N32 billion investment since 2004 in areas such as capacity building, healthcare, and economic empowerment, impacting more than 33 million Nigerians.

“At the MTN Foundation, our vision is a Nigeria where no community is left behind—and AgriConnect brings us closer to that vision,” she added.

In his remarks, Governor Dapo Abiodun while reaffirming his administration’s dedication to agriculture as a driver of economic growth and rural development, added:

“Ogun State ranks among the states with the slowest rise in food inflation. Our focus is not just on boosting productivity but on creating a holistic, technology-driven ecosystem that empowers our farmers with timely information and sustainable support,” the governor said.

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The governor said 1,000 farmers had been randomly selected from the Ogun State Farmers’ Information Management System—Nigeria’s first digital farmers’ database, currently hosting 160,000 registered farmers—to benefit from digital tools and training under the AgriConnect pilot project.

He added that the state had distributed over 196,000 bundles of cassava stems, nearly 7,000 bags of fertiliser, and more than 60,000 litres of agrochemicals to farmers.

Praising the initiative, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy,  Dr. Bosun Tijani, said:

“Agriculture today requires data-driven decisions. A single week’s delay in planting can lead to significant losses,” he said.

Tijani commended Ogun State’s use of meteorological data to guide planting schedules and called for broader access to such intelligent tools across the country.