Technology audit of the Nigerian agricultural sector: towards food security

Abstract

Technology-driven innovation has been generally believed to play a key role in the building of a sustainable economy. The object of the research is the audit of agricultural technology for businesses in Nigeria. This research aimed to audit the existing technologies for agricultural businesses in Nigeria, in a bid to determine the technological strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and needs that are required to transform the sector to an enviable status. The methodology involved the use of a well-structured questionnaire for data collection from 133 randomly selected agriculture-based firms, spread across the country. The instrument inquired about the technology use, needs, and prospective technological potentials. Issues relating to effective utilization, technology diffusion, and factors affecting the firms were also assessed. The results of the technology audit of the Nigerian agriculture sector revealed the prevalence of medium and low-classed technologies among the surveyed firms, while a majority desired the technologies in the medium-to-high category. Firms scarcely (4.4 %) deploy high technologies, and effective diffusion of available technologies is due largely to human/technical factors. A good percentage of respondents affirmed competency and continuous training as critical factors for the effective utilization of technologies. Finances are critical not only to acquire, but also to run, maintain, hire experts, and perform other necessary activities that would enhance effective use of technologies. The present results revealed that most firms do not opt for high technologies mainly because of a huge capital base, and unavailability of basic infrastructures such as power, and space which many of the surveyed firms considered unsurmountable. Thus, a lot is required technology-wise for Nigeria to achieve sustainable and innovative agricultural growth.