By Onyekachi Victoria Philip
The Federal Government has reportedly partnered with Morocco to deploy an artificial intelligence-powered crop monitoring system designed to tackle food security challenges across 15 Nigerian states.
The agreement, signed at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Ben Guerir, Morocco, completes the launch of the National Agro-Productivity System (NAPS), a satellite-based platform that will provide real-time data on crop performance, land use, and agricultural productivity.
According to further reports,the initiative is expected to bridge one of Nigeria’s biggest agricultural challenges, the lack of accurate and timely information on crop cultivation and harvest projections thereby enabling authorities to make faster and more informed decisions on food production and distribution.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, who represented Vice President Kashim Shettima, described the partnership as a major step towards building a smarter and more resilient food system.
According to him, the AI-powered platform will allow government agencies to monitor crops throughout the farming season rather than relying solely on reports submitted after harvest.
The technology will use satellite imagery, geospatial intelligence and artificial intelligence to identify crop health, estimate yields, detect climate-related threats and provide early warnings on possible food shortages.
The rollout of the project will begin with a pilot phase in one state before expanding to three states and eventually covering 15 priority states through continuous multi-season monitoring.
The government said the system has already undergone pilot testing in 13 states, where it reached approximately 250,000 farmers, surveyed over 50,000 farmers across more than 2,000 communities, and generated over one million agricultural data points.
Officials added that the partnership extends beyond adopting foreign technology.
It also focuses on building local capacity by training Nigerian professionals, strengthening institutions and ensuring that agricultural data generated through the platform remains under Nigeria’s ownership.
The collaboration brings together the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU), OCP Africa, Ground Truth Analytics and Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, combining expertise in agriculture, artificial intelligence and geospatial technology.