SmartNoma delivers expert guidance on planting time, fertiliser use, and crop management to smallholder farmers across Nigeria — in your local language, through the extension worker you already know, even when there is no phone signal. The advice comes from the same scientific institutions that train Nigeria's agronomists. Now it reaches your farm directly.
The challenge
When do you plant? How much fertiliser? What if the rains are late? These decisions happen at the beginning of every season — and they determine whether your harvest covers your family's needs or falls short. For most smallholder farmers in Northern Nigeria, the only source of expert advice is an extension worker who may visit once a season — or not at all. And the advice they carry is often generic, not tailored to your specific soil, your specific crop, or this specific season.
SmartNoma changes this — by delivering personalised, science-backed guidance through your extension worker, built specifically for your farm's location and your growing season.
What SmartNoma gives you
SmartNoma reads the soil data for your GPS coordinates — not a generic average for your state or region. Your guidance reflects your soil's pH levels, nutrient profile, and composition. Your planting and fertiliser advice can differ from your neighbour's, because your soil may be different too.
From land preparation through planting, crop care, and harvest, SmartNoma delivers a simple Action Card for each stage. Your extension worker shows you what to do now, and what to prepare for next. No guesswork. No waiting for a farm visit that may not come.
Every Action Card is available in clear Hausa, with pre-recorded audio so you can listen rather than read. You do not need to be literate. You do not need a data connection. The guidance is already on your extension worker's phone.
SmartNoma monitors 7-day local weather forecasts and generates advance alerts for late rain, heat stress, or dry spells — so you can adjust your timing before the problem affects your crop, not after.
Your extension worker does not need a phone signal to give you SmartNoma advice. All guidance is downloaded to their device before they visit your area. You receive the same quality of advice whether you farm near a town or hours from the nearest network tower.
Supported crops
SmartNoma currently provides science-backed agronomic guidance for the three most widely grown staple crops among smallholder farmers in Northern Nigeria:
Planting timing, fertiliser application, weed management, and harvest-readiness guidance — tailored to your soil and this season's rainfall forecast.
Water management, transplanting schedules, nutrient guidance, and post-harvest advice for both upland and irrigated rice cultivation.
Planting depth, intercropping guidance, disease identification, and harvest-optimisation advice — built on IITA AKILIMO cassava protocols.
Why you can trust this advice
SmartNoma does not generate advice from the internet. Every recommendation comes from research institutions that have spent decades studying African agriculture:
A leading global agricultural research network. Its models inform fertiliser recommendations and crop-management protocols for millions of farmers across Africa.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, based in Ibadan, Nigeria. Its AKILIMO tool provides cassava, maize, and rice guidance built specifically for West African growing conditions.
High-resolution soil maps covering Africa at 30-metre resolution — among the most detailed soil datasets produced for the continent.
When your extension worker shows you an Action Card, the advice on it comes from the same research that trains Nigeria's agricultural scientists — now personalised to your farm.
How to access SmartNoma
SmartNoma is not an app you download yourself. It is delivered through the extension agents and agricultural programmes operating in your area. Here is how it works:
Common questions
No. SmartNoma is used by your extension worker on their device. You receive the advice directly from them during a farm visit — in Hausa, with audio if preferred. You do not need any device of your own.
No. Your Action Cards are personalised to your farm's GPS location, your specific soil type, the crop you are growing, and the current stage of your growing season. A farmer 5km away may receive different fertiliser guidance if their soil profile is different.
Speak to the agricultural programme or NGO operating in your area to find out how SmartNoma advice is distributed. Some programmes also deliver guidance through community farmer-group meetings, where one agent shares Action Cards with multiple farmers at once.
Yes. Every recommendation in SmartNoma is sourced from CGIAR and IITA — the same research institutions that train Nigeria's agronomists. The advice is not invented; it is retrieved from peer-reviewed science and adapted to your farm's conditions.
SmartNoma is currently available through agricultural extension programmes operating across Northern Nigeria. If you are a farmer who wants access, speak to your local extension worker or contact the agricultural programme operating in your community. If you manage an agricultural programme and want to bring SmartNoma to your farmer network, visit our partner page.
SmartNoma advice is free for farmers, built on CGIAR- and IITA-published science, delivered offline in Hausa — built for the way farming actually happens in Northern Nigeria.
More crops in development.