The Director General, National Space Research and Development Agency NASRDA, Dr. Matthew Adepoju has said that Agriculture plays a crucial and multifaceted role in the advancement of the Nigerian economy.
The Director General, who was represented by the Director, Strategic Space Applications, Dr. Godstime James, made the statement during a technical presentation by a Consortium of experts from various institutions, led by Pyrogenesis, at the Agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that the Agency, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, has consistently deployed strategic space-based technology to enhance food production and develop actionable climate change solutions.
While alluding to past successful collaborations the Agency had with the Central Bank of Nigeria to monitor and track agricultural farmlands using space technology, he said the proposed collaboration between Pyrogenesis, its partners and NASRDA will be equally successful.
He stated that the Agency has both human and technical capacity to deliver on the proposed collaboration and a Memorandum of Understanding will be drafted to formalize the arrangement.
In his presentation, the head of the delegation, Engr. Simon Ighofose, said NASRDA has the capability to contribute to the proposed projects, which aim to create actionable solutions in areas such as climate change, agriculture, mobile technology, food production, and revenue generation for the country.
According to him, the collaboration which will involve 7 institutions, seeks to deploy space technology in the production of renewable energy, job recreation, financial technology to show economic projects to the grassroot communities in Nigeria.
He said this collaboration will not only facilitate smart agriculture but positively impact every sector of the economy.
The seven partners include Pyrogenesis, Hello Tractor, African Agriculture Technology Foundation, Atman Corporation, Mobinet, Aston University, and Leicester University.
