Agricultural economists gather in Zaria for NAAE annual conference tagged ‘ABU 2025’
Agricultural Economists have gathered in Zaria for the 25th annual conference organised by the Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economists (NAAE).
The conference, tagged ‘ABU 2025’, took place at the Conference Hall of the National Institute for Transport Technology (NITT) on Tuesday, 14th October, 2025.
Themed ‘Rethinking Nigerian Agricultural Systems Through Innovation, ICT and Food Systems”, the conference brought together different stakeholders from academia, industry and policy makers.
In an address of welcome, the Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Prof Adamu Ahmed, welcomed participants from all over the country.
Represented by the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Prof S.B Abdu, the Vice-Chancellor encouraged them to interact with researchers, teachers, and industry experts to develop multifaceted strategies to improve agricultural practices in the country.
He commended the association for bringing together stakeholders to resolve issues facing agricultural sector in Nigeria.
In his address, the President, Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economists (NAAE), Prof C.C Eze, said the conference was not just a call to action but a practical lab that would translate to actionable practices.
Prof Eze, who was represented by Prof A.O Adepoju, said Nigeria’s immense potential remained a paradox with weak systems that further the divide between policy and implementation.
He emphasised that innovation must go beyond new seed varieties and be about policy frame networks, innovative extension services, ICT and innovation along the entire agricultural value chain.
Governor, Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, in his address, said his government was making deliberate efforts to support the agricultural sector as its contributions to development could not be overemphasised.
The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Murtala Dabo, said almost 60% of the state’s population engaged in agricultural practices.
He explained that this made his government to always work with specialists from different fields to help push the sector forward.
The governor also said they were currently focusing on irrigation Infrastructure so as to have farming activities all year round.
Also, speaking, the Katsina State Governor, Dr Umar Dikko Radda, emphasised that his state believed that agricultural development would be the key to peace and progress.
Represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Prof A.B.Mohammed, the governor said his administration had been empowering people with capital and financial support.
Governor Radda further said they had been enjoying the support of extension workers and research institutes in the drive for a peaceful and prosperous state.
In a keynote address, titled ‘Assessing Agri-preneurship in Digital Innovation and Financing’, the former Managing Director, Nigerian Security, Printing and Minting Company, Alhaji Abbas Umar Masanawa, commended the theme of the conference.
Digital tools, according to him, were breaking a lot of bottlenecks in agriculture.
He further said innovations had been developed in terms of weather forecast, sharing of best practices through mobile phones, use of drones at different stages of production.
Masanawa recommended public private partnerships for infrastructure, rural electrification, policy reforms and incentivization of agriculture as few ways to improve the sector.
Equally, the Executive Secretary, National Agricultural Development Fund, Alhaji Muhammad Abu Ibrahim, made a presentationin.
In a paper, titled ‘Start Ups and SME’s Driving Agricultural Innovation and Financing’, Ibrahim said Nigeria’s story was changing as technology was transforming the agricultural sector.
According to him, the data driven policies were helping in building innovations that track spending and implementation while bridging the gap between innovation and implementation.
Abu Ibrahim called on participants to use the conference as an avenue that would ignite the collaboration that’ll move agriculture forward.
In another presentation, titled ‘The Role of Public-Private Partnerships in Advancing Digital Agriculture’, the Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Lafia, Prof S.A. Rahman, said it was imperative for the agricultural sector to move from subsistence to sustainable farming.
Public-private partnership, according to him, was the best way to advance agricultural development as government could not do everything.
He called on industry leaders to collaborate with grassroot farmers and extension workers so that the journey to agricultural development would be all encompassing.
There was conferment of fellowships on some distinguished members and presentation of awards to invited guests.
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Public Affairs Directorate,
Office of the Vice-Chancellor,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (SGB)
Wednesday, 15th October 2025
