The Future of Work in Agri-Food–Farouk Gumel

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Farouk Gumel, Nigeria- In this technology driven
world, we are gradually seeing every aspect of
human life being influenced by technology. This
has changed the way we see and do things. The
agricultural sector is not any different. On a
daily basis, we learn of new technologies that
support farming, storage, processing, logistics
and sales. This is very exciting for the sector
which, at least in Africa, has been very slow to
modernise. The question however is how can we
transition to ensure we fully harness the
benefits of modern agricultural practices while
managing its inherent risks?
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State of the art technology and science-based
farming practices undoubtedly bring higher
yields, more efficient production, better quality
produce and enhanced profitability. In
developed and/or sparsely populated nations,
farming machinery is preferred as they are more
efficient and cheaper. The automation of
planting, irrigation and harvesting has helped
most developed nations sustain their agricultural
sector. In some places, the technology is
complemented with migrant farmers.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new sense of
urgency for increased application of technology
in our day to day activities. This push for a
human-less AI-driven experience should be well
thought throughespecially as it relates to
Africa. To be clear, it is not a case of Man
Versus Metal where the winner takes it all.
Without technology, africas agricultural sector
and its output will be inefficient,
uncompetitive, expensive and inadequate to even
meet the needs of its growing population. At the
sametime, without the traditional farmer,
Africa's rural economy will collapse leading to
higher unemployment and eventual insecurity.
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There is a need for policy makers to formulate a
plan that will integrate the traditional farmer
into modern agriculture. The transition can be
managed but the thinking needs so start now. This
must be coupled with issues around climate change
and desertification which is also adversely
impacting Africas food security.
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Farouk Gumel, Executive Director of the TGI
Group, says his organisation has already
implemented strategies to ensure there is a
proper balance between man versus machines when
it comes to Agriculture. Although TGIs factories
use the most modern and up to date technology,
their supply chain remains in the rural economy
working with outgrower farmers. But according to
Farouk Gumel, TGIs corporate sustainability
strategy goes beyond TGIs outgrower programs and
includes programs such as Farmer Business
Schools where they support farmers and their
families to diversify their income sources.
Furthermore, TGI has been recruiting and training
some of these farmers into their factories. These
types of programs, Gumel says, will hopefully
safeguard livelihoods in Nigerias rural economy
during the inevitable transition from traditional
to modern agriculture.
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