The e-agriculture strategy for Niger

The e-agriculture strategy for Niger is an initiative that aims to integrate digital technologies into the rural development framework to address key challenges and unlock the sector’s potential. The e-agriculture strategy for Niger envisions achieving food and nutritional security for rural households through digital transformation. This will be realised by fostering sustainable agricultural practices, enhancing productivity, and improving market access with increased use of digital services.

Primary goals include:

1. Ensuring sustainable management of agricultural ecosystems.
2. Boosting productivity while ensuring environmental sustainability.
3. Strengthening agricultural value chains.
4. Empowering rural communities to effectively use digital tools.

Strategic axes

The strategy outlines six intervention areas to operationalise its vision:

1. Digital for ecosystem preservation
   Technology will support biodiversity, soil, water, and vegetation resource management for agriculture, livestock, and forestry.
2. securing land rights
   Digital platforms will ensure agricultural and pastoral land security.
3. Enhancing production efficiency
   Technology will drive sustainable intensification to improve food and nutritional security.
4. Adding value and improving market access
   Digital solutions will help distribute the added value across actors and expand market opportunities, including through e-commerce.
5. Capacity development
   Stakeholders, including farmers, technicians, and state actors, will be trained to leverage digital tools for rural development.
6. Improving access to information and services
   Efforts will ensure rural actors have access to relevant and integrated digital services and information.

Action plan

The strategy is implemented through a detailed plan for 2023-2027, which includes 22 projects across 37 prioritised actions. Highlights include:

• Developing platforms for real-time access to agro-climatic data.
• Promoting e-commerce platforms for agro-pastoral products.
• Creating a digital insurance framework for agricultural activities.
• Establishing community centers to ensure digital service access in rural areas.

This plan leverages existing initiatives like the smart villages project by ANSI and the FAO’s digital villages initiative.

Implementation framework

The strategy employs a multi-tiered governance and operational structure:

1. Governance
   • A steering committee, led by ministries, ensures coordination and evaluates project outcomes.
   • A technical coordination unit oversees execution and liaises with stakeholders.
   • Thematic working groups address specific challenges in digital agriculture.
2. Monitoring and evaluation
   • A flexible monitoring unit evaluates project implementation using performance indicators.
   • An independent evaluation in 2027 will assess the strategy’s overall impact.

Risk management

Key challenges to the strategy’s success include:

• Limited infrastructure, particularly energy access in rural areas.
• Low literacy levels, which may widen the digital divide.
• Insufficient technical expertise to support implementation.
• Coordination issues among stakeholders lead to inefficiencies.

Recommendations

To overcome these challenges and maximise impact, the strategy emphasises:

• Promoting data interoperability and sharing among platforms.
• Ensuring data privacy and user security.
• Supporting open data systems for enhanced collaboration.
• Encouraging affordable access to digital tools and services.
• Fostering digital entrepreneurship and innovation.