The Nigerian Federal Government has announced a plan to deploy 32,500 tractors along with other agricultural machinery over the next five years to transform farming practices, enhance food security, and create more employment opportunities in agriculture.
Temitope Fashedemi, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, disclosed the initiative on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ workshop held in Abuja. The program, part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, aims to modernize Nigeria’s agriculture sector by boosting mechanized farming.
Fashedemi detailed that the project will partner with Original Equipment Manufacturers such as John Deere/Tata, Belarus tractor, Greener Hope Initiative Programme and Green Imperative Programme to supply tractors, implements, and other advanced equipment.
“Agricultural mechanization would provide technological inputs, increase and expand productivity through efficient, cost-effective as well as sustainable strategies,” he stated.
In addition to machinery deployment, the government plans to train 819 operators and mechanics at Agricultural Mechanics and Machinery Operators Training Centers in Akure and Misau. This training, aimed at youth and women, will equip participants with practical skills in handling modern agricultural machinery and deepen their expertise in mechanization technologies.
Fashedemi noted that Nigeria currently has fewer than 5,000 functional tractors nationwide, far below the amount needed to meet the demands of a growing population. He emphasized that agricultural mechanization in Nigeria is marked by outdated methods, resulting in low productivity per hectare. This policy also aims to curb the importation of outdated equipment, ensuring Nigerian farmers have access to appropriate and modern technologies.