By Marie-Therese Nanlong

Technology has been deployed to stall post-harvest losses and ensure improved revenue for farmers in the country.

The invention, an App called ‘The Food Plug’, which seeks to promote direct sales of farm produce from the farmers to consumers was launched in Jos by a group, Simplicity Concept Nigeria.

The initiative which would eliminate the activities of middlemen who exploit farmers and consumers, promote food production, distribution, and consumption in the country, would also address the gaps that exist in the food production value chain.

Explaining the process, the Founder and Team Lead of the group, Samuel Williams said that the App would enable farmers to upload their products and consumers could buy directly without going through a third party as farmers would advertise their products to consumers without stress.

According to him, “We aim to use this platform to empower farmers and integrate retailers such as food vendors with food producers across the country. This platform is designed to address the gaps that exist in the food production value chain. The Food Plug is a platform that connects food producers to consumers directly. It will eliminate the activities of middlemen in food production. The initiative would enable farmers to access funds in form of loans, promote mass production, and create job opportunities

”This initiative will create job opportunities for teeming young people, the app is being hosted in a secured server, to ensure scammers don’t invade the site.”

Guest Speaker at the event, Cleophas Dariya who spoke on the role of technology in agriculture produce packaging and export said rapid improvement in agriculture is recorded by the use of technology and affirmed that ICT has paved way for good producers and consumers relations so far as what is been transacted is legal.

He stressed that standards must be maintained if a producer or a farmer wants to meet up with the policy of what is called the global gap in the international food market which is a platform that enables sellers to sell to buyers at an international level.

The State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dan Manjang, in his remarks, commended the group for the initiative, especially as the group consists of mostly young people who seek to create employment opportunities saying that government alone cannot create jobs for the teeming graduates and assured that “government would support and create an enabling environment for the initiative to pull through.”