Professionals, tech-preneurs, Agric-tech startups and government representatives were all present at this year’s Information Communication Technology Telecommunications ICTEL Expo 2018 in Lagos yesterday for the 4th Edition of the conference organized by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
The two-day expo is a professional trade show that focuses on the ICT and Telecommunication industry. Certain key players in the Technology Industry hosted key sessions during the conference.
We took particular interest in the AgriTech panel session hosted by FarmCrowdy tagged ‘’The Impact of AgriTechnology in an emerging economy’’ and was centred around the need for Agric stakeholders to embrace digital agriculture in spite of the challenges it poses.
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Onyeka Akumah, CEO, Farmcrowdy said “stakeholders need to understand that digital agriculture is an opportunity as much as it is a challenge…. farmers, producers, processors, consultants, suppliers need to be aware that existing knowledge will be challenged, new types of businesses will be created, existing jobs will change and some may totally become irrelevant.
“These changes mean that we all need to adapt fast. Digital agriculture is presenting us with an opportunity to quickly examine the individual roles we play and challenge us to be at the forefront from Nigeria to the rest of Africa.”
Also, Mark Olorundare, General Manager; Crenov8 Consulting revealed how they are using their agro conference, Meet the Farmers Conference, MTFC “to bring stakeholders from different sectors of the agro-industry together to find a way to collaborate and improve Agric sectors in Nigeria and Africa and how they can help small and large scales farmers gain access to larger market, UAE and GCC countries at large.” He stressed further that, “they encourage smart agricultural entrepreneurs to find a way of working with who are already in the agri-tech industry like Farmcrowdy, Afex and bring Hello Tractor on board.”
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At the end of the session, the panelists all concluded that the future of agribusiness will only be enabled because, with technology, all it has improved the way farming is being done and changed the status quo of the value chain in the Agric sector in Nigeria and the whole of Africa.
Others on the panel session are Ifeanyi Anazodo of Farmcrowdy, Akinyinka Akintunde of Afex Nigeria, Van Jones from Hello Tractor and Sola Oyawale from Farmcrowdy.
Other sessions at the event included a session on Big Data and Technology headlined by Rack Centre, Digital Economy and the Financial Sector which had Riby, Flutterwave and Zenith Bank on the panel as well as the session on Emerging Technologies and Healthcare Management.
In all, the ICTel Expo offered a somewhat 360-degree view of the Tech Ecosystem and give top visibility to digital innovation in Nigeria plus a platform for excellent networking among the key players in the industry.