Agriculture 4.0: An Implementation Framework for Food Security Attainment in Nigeria’s Post-Covid-19 Era

Samson O Oruma,Luis Fernandez-Sanz,Sanjay Misra

doi:10.1109/access.2021.3086453

Abstract

The challenge of Nigeria’s food insecurity in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, insecurity, climate change, population growth, food wastage, etc., is a demanding task. This study addresses Nigeria’s food insecurity challenges by adopting agriculture 4.0 and commercial farming. Using data from six digital libraries, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, and other internet sources, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR using PRISMA) on Nigeria’s agriculture, food security, and agriculture 4.0. Our results show Nigeria’s current agricultural state, threats to food security, and modern digital agriculture technologies. We adapted our SLR findings to develop an implementation framework for agriculture 4.0 in solving Nigeria’s food insecurity challenge in the post-Covid-19 era. Our proposed framework integrates precision agriculture in Nigeria’s food production and the necessary enabling digital technologies in the agri-food supply chain. We analyzed the critical implementation considerations during each agri-food supply chain stage of farming inputs, farming scale, farming approach, farming operation, food processing, food preservation/storage, distribution/logistics, and the final consumers. This study will help researchers, investors, and the government address food security in Nigeria. The implementation of agriculture 4.0 will substantially contribute to SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), and SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) of #Envision 2030 of the United Nations, for the benefit of Nigeria, Africa, and the entire world.

Highlights

The challenge of Nigeria’s food security attainment in the era of the post-Covid-19, characterized by lockdown, restriction of movement, national insecurity, violence, corruption, energy crisis, etc. [1], is still an open research issue
This study aims to present a roadmap to Nigeria’s food security by implementing agriculture 4.0 in the agri-food supply chain; its specific objectives include identifying the current state of agriculture and threats to food security in Nigeria
WORKS The use of digital technologies in food production is a viable option for food security attainment in a country that is facing serious insecurity challenges, population growth, climate change, natural resource depletion, massive food wastage, and restrictions associated with pandemics like Covid-19

Summary

Introduction

The challenge of Nigeria’s food security attainment in the era of the post-Covid-19, characterized by lockdown, restriction of movement, national insecurity, violence, corruption, energy crisis, etc. [1], is still an open research issue. The challenge of Nigeria’s food security attainment in the era of the post-Covid-19, characterized by lockdown, restriction of movement, national insecurity, violence, corruption, energy crisis, etc. It is time for Nigerians to effectively utilize the limited available resources in few information-driven commercial farms and not spread them across millions of small-scale farms that cannot address our current food security needs. According to the World Bank, only 1% of the United States (US) total labor force (employment) are farmers, yet the US is the largest exporter of food globally. This is in sharp contrast to Nigeria, with almost 73% of the workforce (employment) being farmers, yet Nigeria is a net importer of food

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