CLIMATE-SMART AGRIPRENEURSHIP: PMR REFLECTION (INNOVATE FOR AFRICA)

The Innovation for Africa's Innovation Readiness Program commenced with lots of excitement and zest. It is a program meant to prepare and incubate young Nigerian professionals for innovative entrepreneurship by inculcating Innovation for Africa's core values: Creativity, Collaboration, Leadership, and Critical Thinking. The program advocates that fellows engender personal development skills like grit, growth mindset, inclusivity, and collaboration.

The program is streamlined into four facets: Personal Branding, Design Thinking, Strategy, and Hard Skills Lab.

The IFA Hackathon is part of the design thinking process, where innovators are teamed up to work on creating a solution to challenging problems. The hackathon process is a six stage process consisting of pitch, mix, hack, feedback, iterate, and present.

The first phase involved pitching a problem, we held a zoom conference call and participants pitched a problem that they aspire to proffer solutions. Various issues were drafted, and I also raised climate-smart agricultural practices to curb the effects of climate change on food security in Nigeria. After that, we were placed into slack groups after voting for our preferred problem area we nurture interest in finding a solution. My team members include Ochanya Adah, Archibong Akpan, Uchenna Nwafor, Adeyinka Meduoye, and Me(Umar Abdulhaffiz).

Further, we were given a task to pitch different problem areas within our groups, vote on the most compelling problem area, and draft a joint problem statement afterwards.

From the image above, the bolded sentence reflects the group's problem statement based on the highest votes (AA, AU, UN). Hence our problem statement is:

Climate change is affecting crop production and crop yield, and this is driving the price of foodstuff high, thereby worsening poverty and food security in Nigeria - so how do we leverage on technology and data analysis to improve crop production and ultimately reduce poverty in Nigeria?

Next, we proceeded to conduct PMR (Primary Market Research) interviews. Our objective was to consult farmers across Nigeria through face-to-face interaction or telephone interviews to get their perspective on critical agricultural problems in Nigeria. Adeyinka Meduoye was quite forthcoming with the interviews, as he interviewed most of the farmers and provided us with details that helped us Define the Problem. Define the problem stage allows us to iterate on our problem statement by using design thinking subset; Empathy to identify a client-focused problem area.

The following are the questions asked during the PMR interview and the corresponding responses from the farmers:

Question 1: Are you presently facing difficulties in crop production?

Farmers' answer: Yes, of course. We are facing difficulties.

Question 2. Since you said Yes, what sort of difficulties are you presently facing?

Farmers' answer: Up North, where over 70% of Nigeria's crop production channels from; there are flooding issues, which washes away the topsoil which is the richest part of the soil and contains organic matter and other crop nutrients and deposits elsewhere. Another difficulty is wet weather; If soil is too moist it can result in poor conditions for the crops to grow; when soil is well drained then the oxygen, nutrients and trace elements that the plant needs are available.

Also, pollution of the water (river) basin affects crop production. When waters are polluted, it cannot be used in watering the crops, and when used, it affects the growth of crops, leading to their crops dying. Another one is the FG's current agricultural policy on payment of fertilizers by farmers, which we have been getting for free before now.

Question 3: How does the payment of fertilizers affect crop production?

Farmers ' answer: Imagine something we have been getting for free, and suddenly they asked us to start paying for it. Won't it affect us? He asked. Most of the farmers are very poor, and a vast majority of us cannot afford money for buying fertilizers.

Question 4. Aside these, what other challenges are you facing in this regard?

Farmers' answer: Food security; You know there is high insecurity in Nigeria presently. Most farmers are being disturbed dastardly by unknown forces during farming. Sometimes, our crops and harvests are being eaten and destroyed due to cattle invasion. You should know the rest; I can't say much on that.

Question 5. Cattle invasion!!! What does that mean?

Farmers' answer: Don't tell me you haven't seen the news of late. It is seldomly reported as news that there is always cattle invasion on farmlands within the nation's borders. The government will always look sideways without batting an eyelid. He uttered grudgingly.

Question 6. If you were to tackle this challenge, what will you do?

Farmers' answer: I will advise the FG to eradicate the fertilizer's payment policy. They should ensure the non-pollution of the water basins in the South-Eastern part of the country. And they should come up with an innovative approach in dealing with low crop production.

Question 7. What about the use of farm machinery to boost crop production?

Farmers' answer: Of course. That will be very great. For both of us, we will embrace it since it will help boost our crop yield.

Question 8. What has been your farming experience been like?

Farmers' answer: I don't want to say it's difficult because it's tradition. Almost everyone you see(northern I believe because there is a lot of farming) is farming while working. I plant to supplement my income and provide for my mother.

Question 9. What are the difficulties you face?

Farmers' answer: Pests, complicated farming processes due to inability to mechanize as a subsistence farmer, changes in the weather causing unpredictability in rainfall and increase in heat preventing natural storage causing us to sell at a cheap rate to traders.

Question 10. What other challenges do you face as a farmer?

Farmers' answer: Poor Marketing, capital, improved varieties

After conducting the PMR interviews, we learned that the problem is more localized than we formally thought. We got extensive exposition on other issues that equally contributes to food insecurity other than climate change. For example, we learnt that insecurity and cattle invasion are critical elements that reduce yield and crop failure. We also learned that flooding is the primary environmental anomaly affecting crop production in the North. This is in line with our first Define the problem: How might we framework.

As a team, our understanding of the customers we are working with, farmers, improved. We now understand their perspective on the issue of food insecurity in Nigeria. At first, we relied on technological improvement and spatial data analysis to curb food insecurity in Nigeria. Now, we understand that we also need data on the level of insecurity in the North, soil properties and pollution levels in the South Southern part of Nigeria, and predictive analysis of the impact of mechanization on farming and crop production in Nigeria. Overall, the issue is more extensive than we initially postulated.

Overall, the Innovation for Africa program has been an exhilarating, albeit intensive experience. I have had to maximize my capability within a very short period while striving to maintain excellence in my deliveries. Within the first week of the program, I have already done so much in terms of personal development, and have immensely improved my collaborative and leadership skills.

I look forward to more activities and engagements. The Innovation readiness program is as compelling as it has also been exciting!