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00:00:18Hello and welcome, this is Just
00:00:21Nigeria, coming up on the program, smart
00:00:25farming can artificial intelligence help Nigerian farmers grow more
00:00:29food. waste less and feed a green
00:00:32population and clean
00:00:35living. Barbie subis popup market supports women farmers
00:00:39and brings healthier food choices to more Nigerians.
00:00:43Also, Cameron's rising
00:00:46femicides, fresh killings of eight women spark outrage
00:00:50and renewed cause for stronger laws against gender-based violence.
00:00:53Plus, my name is Ahmed. Check me
00:00:57me out. The social entrepreneur who has inpart. more than
00:01:0013000 young
00:01:03of Africans,
00:01:15thank you for joining this episode of Jist Nalgeria brought to you by the BBC and
00:01:19Channel's television, here we track stories online in the news and
00:01:23unpack what they mean for everyday Nigerians, I am wali
00:01:27fakile, we begin with our top story.
00:01:31now getting food from the farm to our tables is becoming more
00:01:34difficult as farmers battle climate change in security
00:01:38and rising costs around the world, AI is helping
00:01:42farmers work smarter, but can it do the same in
00:01:45algeria? in this
00:01:47of story, just Nigeria's Mercy Frank takes a look at the
00:01:50opportunities, the challenges and what it could mean for the
00:01:54country's food future. Over 30
00:01:58million Nigerians face a... huge food insecurity,
00:02:02can artificial intelligence put food back on their plates? the
00:02:06biggest problem of agriculture in
00:02:08de Nigeria is post-arvest loss data we have come to
00:02:12learn is by far the most important
00:02:15aspect for development
00:02:17in agriculture. we are building a system called AI
00:02:19detector, AI corp detector, it detects
00:02:23the kind of diseases affecting the cop and it will give you much more
00:02:26insight. we need
00:02:28of a national fooding. intelligence
00:02:30system.
00:02:36of in Food
00:02:40security remains one of Nigeria's biggest challenges.
00:02:44The United Nations World food
00:02:46in program focused that by the peak
00:02:48of the 2026 Lean season, nearly one out of every
00:02:51seven people in Nigeria is at risk of
00:02:54a severe and acute hunger, just one step away
00:02:58from farming. You already are we. the insecurity crisis across the
00:03:02food system, different regions where food is primarily
00:03:06produced and then climate change which results to either
00:03:09droughts, outbreak of pest and
00:03:12disease. in southeastern
00:03:15state, david onoaha says he spent two years
00:03:19building a livelihood from casava and rice
00:03:22of guided by instinct, the royal elements and wisdom of older
00:03:26farmers. i call on the experienced ones i asks
00:03:30people around, people have been into this for decades, people have been
00:03:38of me into it for centuries, you have to understand how does this thing work, why is the leaves - turning brown, why is
00:03:42this area not going where he supposed
00:03:43in to go, but instinct has its limits, last year i ventured
00:03:47into rice farming, i had my biggest loss because i
00:03:51ventured almost all my
00:03:52of savings into it, while david is yet to come to terms with how
00:03:56emerging technologies beat traditional guest work, for the north
00:04:00in Kaduna state, Samshudin Jibril builds
00:04:03of agricultural drones after watching his father's health
00:04:06deteriorates from handling pesticides. I saw how his labor
00:04:10is used to spray chemical which
00:04:13of is very manual and is very hazardous. It lead them to have
00:04:17spotty problems, cancer diseases and many more. So he built an
00:04:21of AI powered drone to care for the crops faster than humans
00:04:25cold. A manual person can do 10 or 50,
00:04:28we can do more than 400 in ad because
00:04:32it's it's it's much more faster and predict plant
00:04:35diseases before it's too late. i saw how farmers are
00:04:39even having kind
00:04:41of of of of like
00:04:41a difficulty in terms of um detecting diseases like
00:04:45kachia there's a lot of ginger farmers uh they lost millions
00:04:49of millions of ner by using our
00:04:53machine will help them to identify. other experts
00:04:56add that AI can support
00:04:59of farmers long before. crops even reach maturity: AI can help
00:05:03a farmer know planting season based on an AI
00:05:06powered advisory system, so such powered advisory
00:05:10system will
00:05:11of need the...
00:05:12tells about the crop, the soil
00:05:16moisture, so these are features that the AI model will take in.
00:05:20this promise also holds true for livestock. you simply
00:05:23take a picture of probably a goat
00:05:26or a cow and it based on
00:05:30physical features of physical symptoms in that image, the air model can
00:05:34predict if if that image is -
00:05:38that cow or goat is diseased with about 42.
00:05:42small holder farmers in Nigeria, the question of how AI can
00:05:46scale without widening the digital divide begs for
00:05:49answers, we should not treat it as one of those apps that
00:05:53should be handed over to farmers right, so it should rather be an
00:05:57integration across different systems that support farmer's
00:06:01activities, look at the farmers you want to give the tools
00:06:04to, are they digitally
00:06:06literates?
00:06:16Records show that in 2025, Nigeria lost an
00:06:19estimated 40 million metric tons of food to post
00:06:23harvest inefficiencies with tomatoes, vegetables,
00:06:27fruits, dairy, meat, fish and root crops mostly
00:06:31hit, because of insecurity in certain areas, farmers are no
00:06:35longer cultivating around these areas and some infrastructure have
00:06:39become
00:06:40more reborn tomato farmers like an, young suffered from this
00:06:43systemic inefficiency. when came harvers time there
00:06:47was a glot and because there was a glot we lost a bit of money.
00:06:51now if we had known prior to
00:06:55planting the data of what was being
00:06:59grown, how many farmers were growing tomatoes? how
00:07:02many hectares of tomato farms were being
00:07:05cultivated? you would be able to have more understanding of whether or
00:07:09not it was a good time to plant tomatoes, which it wasn't.
00:07:13Anekon says that loss
00:07:14was the start of an AI solution platform to follow crops from
00:07:18farmer to buyer. now to do all of those things we need to get data
00:07:22on all the farms and all the farmers that are exporting and are producing so
00:07:26that we can have data on the farm that it was
00:07:30grown, the warehouse it was aggregated to and stored
00:07:34and the exporter who eventually exports it so that a single
00:07:37scan from buyer and they can see the entire value
00:07:41chain, the entire supply chain of that
00:07:43product, so how much more
00:07:47opportunities does AI bring across the food chain?
00:07:51if other support activities within the food
00:07:54system can introduce the use of
00:07:58AI in order to ensure that challenges
00:08:02that triggers the breakdown are addressed,
00:08:05not from reactive point of view, but from a mitigative and
00:08:09decision making early enough to ensure. that the system is
00:08:13resilient, so I believe that AI will be able to support that, would have been
00:08:17able to help say processors know whether it was time to
00:08:21double down on the investment and build a bigger processing, or whether it was time to
00:08:25invest in cold cold um chain,
00:08:28cold storage chains like for preservation of post
00:08:32harvest losses, would be wrong for us to use um american
00:08:35data to solve Nigerian problem, it's not going to
00:08:38work, reports indicate that out of Nigeria's overall
00:08:42food losses, about 20% occurs specifically during the
00:08:46transportation and transit phase. we have done a study and we have
00:08:50seen that sometimes they even spend far more than what they are carrying by the time they
00:08:54get to the in their destination, which means they will pass all these cost
00:08:58also to the market. yeah, in the event that
00:09:02let's say the truck that is moving the food breaks down, with
00:09:05that intelligent information through the support of AI or integration of
00:09:09AI, the distributor. or the offtak should
00:09:13be able to get to the closest
00:09:17infrastructure to store this food in order
00:09:21to avoid further breakdown or um
00:09:24spoilage the food. you can have AI
00:09:27powered um um cold silos right
00:09:31air power cooling systems that
00:09:34is it will control the amount
00:09:38of
00:09:38you know temperature even while um these
00:09:42products are being
00:09:43transported.
00:09:53Nigeria's national artificial intelligence strategy names
00:09:56agriculture as one of its priority sectors with pilot
00:10:00projects targeted for the 2024 to 2026
00:10:04window. Beyond pilot we have to think
00:10:07scalability and adopt the right model and
00:10:10strategies that ensures that this technology
00:10:14AI itself is decentralized AI
00:10:17starts with data so if the government can
00:10:21invest more in data systems also
00:10:26um infrastructure, we need to build by ourself here Nigeria,
00:10:30not be importing everything for David, the
00:10:34future of farming may still depend on experience, for innovators
00:10:38like Samshidin and it may increase in the dependent
00:10:41data, infrastructure, connectivity, and for
00:10:45Nigeria, bridging those two worlds may determine whether
00:10:49AI transforms its food system or remains
00:10:53another promising idea. that never
00:10:56skills. Mercy Frank, just
00:10:59Nigeria.
00:11:05Well, the future of farming may be smarter than we think. Can AI
00:11:09help Nigerian farmers cremer food, reduce waste and ultimately
00:11:13make food cheaper for everyone? Tell us what you think on exit just
00:11:17Nigeria TV, would love to hear from
00:11:19you. Um, to our next
00:11:22story, what happens when it's cup business executive
00:11:26swaps the bordroom for the farm, that's exactly what
00:11:30Barbie Subai is doing using organic farmers markets to connect
00:11:33people with fresh healthy food while supporting women farmers
00:11:37and vendors. Just Nigeria Show recently met
00:11:40up with her in Lagos. I
00:11:44choose to focus on organic because what we take
00:11:48in into our body determines who we
00:11:51are.
00:12:12It's really hard to find adult tasted honey in Nigeria, now I know we think
00:12:16of it as a Nigerian problem, but it's a global thing, honey is the third most adold treated food
00:12:20worldwide.
00:12:33In the advent of farmers and
00:12:37traders wanting to maximize
00:12:41profits and reduce wastage. They have
00:12:45started using chemicals that are harmful
00:12:49and really it is killing us
00:12:52slowly. So I started organic farming. and I thought,
00:12:56okay, so if I grow these vegetables, how do I sell
00:12:58them?
00:13:09We were looking at um, food from farm to
00:13:13table and from farm to skin, and then we expanded it even
00:13:17further to include wellness and
00:13:18sustainability.
00:13:29"we run quarterly business growth workshops, so it's like a pseudo
00:13:33accelerator program where we help them
00:13:36to put the right structures in their businesses so that they can grow and
00:13:40scale. over the last 10 years we now have over 300 women on our
00:13:43platform and we run the market weekly and at the end
00:13:47the year we have huge market event where we try and bring all our
00:13:51vendors together." "
00:13:57Obviously being here at the market gives a platform, it gives me the
00:14:01opportunity to meet people, to meet potential customers
00:14:05and also to learn from people. What you don't get a
00:14:09supermarket is that that face to face
00:14:12interaction with
00:14:13customers.
00:14:22We're hoping to scale through replication.
00:14:25um keeping the market size small so that we
00:14:29can still have the personal input to helping our women in
00:14:33their businesses. nice one
00:14:37there bby andsted to come here and just Nigeria from the
00:14:41BBC and channels television after wave of
00:14:45killings cause growth for stronger protection of women in
00:14:49Cameroon.
00:15:01Hello and a warm welcome to Art House, I'm Melinda Qinglami
00:15:04coming up today's episode the program. It's time
00:15:08to discover, connect and be inspired on
00:15:11arthouse, where
00:15:15creativity knows no bounds,
00:15:19dive into the heart of Nigeria by exploring its rich
00:15:22tapestry of arts and culture.
00:15:33See these stories, creative, colorful, and vibrant,
00:15:37on art house
00:15:41and remember, art is not just what we create, it's who
00:15:45we are. on arthouse, life is
00:15:48art. the day
00:15:52begins with news gathering and research. we
00:15:55need to confirm the
00:15:56story,
00:15:59directors as well as policy makers. from the business
00:16:03districts to the corporate, the policies, actions and even inaction.
00:16:08of both the fiscal and
00:16:09the monetary authorities make impact. 90% of
00:16:13Nigeria's economy is an informal sector, just like this market,
00:16:17and take for example, they're impacted by government policies like
00:16:20inflation rates, prices. Keep going
00:16:24up. Well,
00:16:27trading is fast and mostly virtual. Get the top stories
00:16:31are set to investing your agenda. Beyond Africa, we got you
00:16:35covered. It's a full menu. for you every
00:16:38weekday, business morning and business
00:16:42incorporated only on channels
00:16:44television,
00:16:54you're still watching just nageria from the BBC and channels television,
00:16:58many thanks for staying here, i am wali fakile, still
00:17:01ahead, the social entrepreneur dedicated to youth
00:17:05empowerment and workforce development, across
00:17:07africa, but before we
00:17:11take that story, cameron is
00:17:15facing green concern over the killing of women with many calling for strong
00:17:19action to protect them, official figures show that at
00:17:23least 250 women have been killed since 2023,
00:17:27but campaign has said the real number could be even
00:17:29higher
00:17:36just. "we are simply waiting for justice to be
00:17:39done, we are placing everything in the hands of
00:17:42justicement la
00:17:46justice,
00:17:47cristance
00:18:05d'abord je voulais que c'est elle
00:18:07qui se..." I wanted Christians to be here because as she was the elderst a
00:18:11family of nine children, I wanted her to be the guide the family
00:18:14after me. In principle, she had no favorites because she
00:18:18had not experienced motherhood, she could not have
00:18:21favourites, so she was everybody's mother. More
00:18:25than four and a half years ago they lost their mother,
00:18:29and christians was the only one who had to replace
00:18:32her.
00:18:36qui devait remplacer.
00:18:50women were victims of domestic violence in Cameroon and not
00:18:54protected, there is no real structure in place, because when you
00:18:57complain, people ask you, why did he beat you? when you say he
00:19:01beat you while you were asleep, nobody believes you, you
00:19:05arrive and find women like yourself, was supposed to welcome you,
00:19:09but they are the very women who tell you, I'm sure it was the neighbor who
00:19:13advised you to file a complaint against your husband, is she
00:19:16divorced?
00:19:25can reassure you that we have reached a consensus on the
00:19:29formulation the different articles and what have
00:19:33you, so I think that the next step is for
00:19:36that bill. to go to the highest
00:19:40authority the
00:19:41state,
00:19:50very disturbing phenomenon there, and bik in
00:19:53Algeria, precisely in the southeast, oh waterfall in
00:19:57Enogu state, one the areas popular tourist attractions
00:20:01is set for face left, the state government says it plans to upgrade the
00:20:05site to attract more visitors and make the experience even
00:20:08better, inkirjogu tells us
00:20:11more. ohome, one
00:20:15the communities in the local government area of state
00:20:19and the host to the majestic waterfall that plonges about
00:20:2330 meters down the
00:20:24rock. it's a
00:20:28journey of about 45 minutes from the city center and another
00:20:3245 minutes track through dense vegetation in the
00:20:36company the local v
00:20:43after the long walk and crossing some huddles, the stream from the
00:20:47waterfall finally comes into view.
00:20:52so cool,
00:20:54hello, here the water cuts
00:20:57its way through towring rock, creating a narrow passage
00:21:01into the heart of a
00:21:02home.
00:21:09one after another, tourists step beneath the ting
00:21:12waterfall, taking in the water at close range and inscribing their
00:21:16names on the wall. beyond
00:21:20expectation, i've seen it on videos, pictures,
00:21:24but i think coming here does more justice to it
00:21:28than what you see online uh, we walked through the
00:21:31waterfall, not just looking at the waterfall, so
00:21:35it's it's breathtaking, i think it's so cool, it's
00:21:39such an adventure, it's really nice buse it's not only waterfall, it's like
00:21:42actually you walk through the Kenya, you walk through the water,
00:21:46it's like then you come here like it's really amazing, it's so... so
00:21:50beautiful, it's my highlight so far. some the
00:21:53tourists give their expectations on how to make the waterfall more
00:21:57attractive. so i think government should improve on the general
00:22:00security, it will help touris also access. the
00:22:04road to this place, if um there is a way they can provide,
00:22:08because the major problem getting to this place is that tracking. if there is
00:22:11anything this place is now is means of transportation. the state government
00:22:15says is creating another route through different communities for those.
00:22:20who may not want to walk on the water, you walk on the
00:22:24board, there will also be canopy
00:22:27walkway so that from the canopy walkway
00:22:31you can also view the water,
00:22:34for the villages, however, erosion remains one the biggest
00:22:38problems to the sides, and
00:22:42from that story we go to check me out, a weekly
00:22:45showcase of niges doing amazing things both home and abroad,
00:22:49this we check out ahmed alabi who is early
00:22:52life one of Africa's largest low-income communities in
00:22:56Lagas fuel is passion for community change. Let's check
00:23:00him out. My name is
00:23:04entrepreneur and Airtech
00:23:05leader.
00:23:09I give you this award.
00:23:11Congratulations.
00:23:16I was born and raised in one the largest in Africa.
00:23:20Nigeria, I lost mama when I was seven and my dad lost his job
00:23:24almost at the same time. I stayed out of school for academic term
00:23:27until the program for four children when I was 14. This
00:23:31program introduced me to serves team and leadership. At the age of 15,
00:23:35I started teaching a basic rural school eurodu which is another
00:23:39community where I lived in, so um and I started teaching basic literacy
00:23:43and numeraces skills, I said using play way method
00:23:46to teach kids out to spell so. like some
00:23:50of like
00:23:50you know moment that shaped my
00:23:52trajectory,
00:23:57i went to the university of lauring where i studied human
00:24:01kinetics education and i also went to the university
00:24:05of Edinburgh where i completed a masters degree
00:24:08program in Africa and international development through the mastercard
00:24:12foundation scholars
00:24:13program.
00:24:20i started the laboration initiative and started the first
00:24:24seminar career seminar in 2017 where i brought all
00:24:28these kids together and we had the career talk i developed a
00:24:31model called the ISOP model,
00:24:35interest trends, limitation and purpose. we decided to start an initiative
00:24:39called the skill to rural boot camp where these young people can
00:24:42identify problems in their communities and then create solutions to them using
00:24:46design thinking. we converted all of our resources into
00:24:50an airtech platform called skilltorrural.org where
00:24:54add all of our resources there and uh if you're a
00:24:57volunteer or young professional uh anywhere in
00:25:01Nigeria or Africa and you want to like do something within your community you can
00:25:05go there
00:25:06use our resources learn design thinking and go to your community to
00:25:10cascade what you have learned so and with that we've been able to
00:25:14like reach hundred of thousands of young people using that model we trained an
00:25:18AI model and that became the African first generative
00:25:21AI career counselor, i'm still story that is still
00:25:25unfolding and i know today my mom will look down me with a great
00:25:29pride, i'm proud the man that have become, thank
00:25:33you
00:25:33so much,
00:25:36thank you, my name is ahmed alabi, i'm a shor entrepreneur and air
00:25:40tech leader and you have just checked me
00:25:42out, well done,
00:25:46hammed, and before we go, here is a quick reminder
00:25:49of our top story: We looked at the potentials for artificial intelligence to help
00:25:53Nigerian farmers grow more food, west less and help feed the
00:25:57country's growing population. And that's all we can take on
00:26:01this week's episode the program. The conversation ends here now, but
00:26:05continues on our x sandal at just Nigeria TV, go there and leave your
00:26:08comments, you can also check out more content from us at
00:26:11channelstv.com or download the BBC World Service
00:26:15app, the home of your best BBC programs and podcast, until
00:26:19next time, I am Walifakile,
00:26:22bye.