Gombe State has taken a major step toward modernizing agricultural advisory services through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Nigeria Public-Private Partnership AI-Enabled Digital Advisory Planning (NPPP-AI-DAP) Project. The initiative aims to use artificial intelligence and digital technologies to deliver personalized, location-specific advisory services to smallholder farmers, helping address Nigeria's growing agricultural extension gap. The signing ceremony, held on 25 May 2026 at the Gombe State Agricultural Development Programme (GSADP) Conference Hall, marks a significant milestone in the rollout of the project, with Gombe becoming the second state to formally join the initiative following extensive scoping exercises in Kaduna and Oyo States, Funded by the Gates Foundation and convened by the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), the project brings together public institutions and private-sector expertise to transform agricultural advisory service delivery in Nigeria.

The project is being implemented by a consortium of partners, with SAA leading state-level engagement in Gombe, Oyo and Kaduna states. In this role, SAA is facilitating state-level Memoranda of Understanding in collaboration with Africa Practice and Sahel Consulting, while Extension Africa serves as the intermediary partner and product owner.

Addressing Nigeria’s Extension Gap

Nigeria’s smallholder farmers continue to face a critical shortage of agricultural advisory services. In many parts of the country, a single public extension agent serves up to 25,000 farmers, far above the Food and Agriculture Organization’s recommended ratio of one agent to 1,000 farmers.

In addition to limited personnel, advisory messages are often too generalized to address the diverse agroecological conditions faced by farmers across Nigeria. As a result, millions of producers lack access to timely, localized, and actionable information needed to improve productivity and resilience.

The NPPP-AI-DAP Project seeks to address these challenges through a scalable digital platform capable of delivering customized advisory services directly to farmers at low cost and at scale

Building an AI-Powered Advisory Platform

The initiative will leverage artificial intelligence, spatial analytics, and user segmentation to create tailored advisory solutions for different categories of farmers.

Through the development of farmer personas and localized user interfaces, the platform will be designed to remain accessible across varying levels of literacy, age, gender, and digital proficiency. The system will also establish stronger data-sharing mechanisms and an integrated technological architecture capable of supporting evidence-based decision-making.

By combining AI-enabled recommendations with existing extension systems, the platform is expected to enhance the reach and effectiveness of agricultural advisory services while supporting more informed farm management decisions.

Gombe Leads the Way

By formalizing this partnership, Gombe State positioned itself at the forefront of digital agricultural innovation in Nigeria. The agreement provides for the establishment of a dedicated tripartite coordination committee to oversee platform ownership, strengthen regulatory readiness, and support long-term implementation within the state.

Government agricultural authorities will also benefit from specialized support dashboards, data governance protocols, and an investment roadmap that outlines operational costs and risk-sharing models. These tools will help optimize resource allocation, validate AI-generated content, and support the long-term sustainability of agricultural advisory services for farming communities across the state.

Delivering Better Services for Farmers

Speaking during the ceremony, Dr. Godwin Atser, Country Director of SAA Nigeria, represented by the Deputy Country Director, Dr. Abdulhamid Gambo, highlighted the transformative potential of the project. He noted that the initiative builds on SAA's longstanding legacy in agricultural extension and advisory services, having partnered with and supported state ministries of agriculture in 19 states over the past 35 years through funding from The Nippon Foundation.

"This project is absolutely pivotal to transforming the agricultural sector by radically improving farmers' access to critical extension and advisory services," Atser stated.

"This AI-enabled platform will serve as a powerful complement to existing human infrastructure rather than a replacement. As the platform scales, it will significantly improve the effective agent-to-farmer ratio by enabling extension personnel to digitize their workflows and extend their reach. By combining AI with traditional extension approaches, we are bridging this gap to ensure that millions of underserved smallholder farmers receive timely, low-cost, and location-specific advice tailored to their farming needs."

Dr. Abdulhamid Gambo, Deputy Country Director, SAA Nigeria addressing dignitaries and guests durimg the MoU signing ceremony in Gombe State.

Also speaking at the event, The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture Animal Husbandry and Cooperative, Builder Ahmed Sa'eed Guli, highlighted the potential impact of the platform on agricultural productivity in the state.

"Signing this Memorandum of Understanding is a major milestone for agriculture in Gombe State as we embrace digital innovation to empower our farmers and increase food production," he said.

"With our extension system stretched to its limits, this AI-driven platform will help bridge the agent-to-farmer gap efficiently, boost productivity, strengthen livelihoods, and position Gombe as a leader in modern, data-driven agricultural development." Builder Ahmed further applauded SAA for its longstanding collaboration with Gombe State Government to strengthen the state extension system and contribute to achieving food, nutrition and income security.

Scaling Innovation Through Partnership

Speaking after the ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of Extension Africa, Yahaya Tajudeen, expressed appreciation to SAA and other consortium partners for their collaboration and support in creating an enabling environment for the development of digital extension services in Nigeria.

Providing an update on project implementation, Dr. Bidemi Ajibola, the SAA NPPP-AI-DAP Project Lead, noted that with the project's operational roadmap, multilingual prototypes, and data-sharing agreements already in place in Kaduna and Gombe states, the project demonstrates how public-private partnerships can successfully deploy cutting-edge technology to advance national food security and rural prosperity.

According to Dr. Ajibola, Oyo state is expected to come onboard in the month of June as the project nears completion.

The NPPP-AI-DAP Project demonstrates how public-private partnerships can harness cutting-edge technologies to strengthen agricultural advisory systems, improve farmer access to information, and contribute to national food security, agricultural productivity, and rural prosperity.