FG to inaugurate tractor financing scheme next week

IN a bid to ensure increased agricultural productivity and job creation, the Federal Government has concluded plans to unveil Hello Tractor Initiative.

In a statement on Thursday, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, said that the Pay-As-You-Go tractor financing scheme would be unveiled on April 28, 2022.

According to him, the launch scheduled to hold in Abuja is a follow up to an earlier soft launch which witnessed the presentation of seven tractors to beneficiaries across three locations of Abuja, Nasarrawa and Enugu states in the country.

The statement read in part, “The PAYG tractor financing is an innovation to support smallholder mechanisation, food security and rural entrepreneurship in the country. The initiative is facilitated by Hello Tractor in partnership with Heifer International. Hello Tractor is an award-winning agricultural technology and social enterprise company with the vision to transform the agricultural ecosystem in Africa by creating efficiencies that generate inclusive growth, reduce poverty and build stronger and stable economies. Through technology, the company connects tractor owners to smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa through a farm equipment sharing application that bridges the gap between traditional farming and more technologically advanced approaches”

Abubakar said Heifer International would be providing funding for the project through its AyuTe Africa Challenge Competition platform as part of its strategic goal of assisting over one million farmers in Africa to reach a sustainable living income by the year 2030.