The Federal Government has unveiled the National Agricultural Mechanisation Policy and the National Agricultural Mechanisation Investment Strategy, alongside plans to establish a mega tractor assembly plant capable of producing between 2,000 and 4,000 tractors annually.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, disclosed this on Wednesday at the High-Level National Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Mechanisation in Abuja.
According to Kyari, the two policy instruments are designed to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural productivity, reduce its mechanisation deficit and support the development of a more commercially driven agricultural sector.
He said the government’s ambition was to move Nigeria “from agricultural potential to agricultural powerhouse; from mechanisation deficit to mechanisation leadership; and from food vulnerability to food sovereignty.”
The minister explained that agricultural mechanisation extends beyond tractors to include land preparation, planting, irrigation, crop protection, harvesting, processing, storage, logistics, precision agriculture, digital technologies, financing, insurance, maintenance and after-sales services.
“Our ambition, therefore, must be larger than equipment ownership. We must build a Mechanization-as-a-Service economy in which technology reaches the farmer when and where it is needed, at a cost that is commercially viable and sustainably financed. This is the direction in which the government is moving,” he said.
Under the Renewed Hope National Agricultural Mechanisation Programme, the Federal Government has commenced the procurement and deployment of 2,000 tractors and more than 9,000 assorted implements and spare parts.
Kyari described the intervention as the largest single agricultural mechanisation programme ever undertaken in Africa.
However, he stressed that the success of the programme should not be measured simply by the number of machines purchased, but by whether the equipment becomes productive economic assets that farmers can access, finance, maintain and use efficiently.
The proposed tractor assembly plant is expected to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported agricultural machinery while supporting local manufacturing, job creation and the development of businesses around the agricultural equipment value chain.
For MSMEs, this could open opportunities in tractor leasing, equipment maintenance, spare-parts production, logistics, machinery operation, equipment financing and other agricultural technology services.
Kyari urged investors, young people and women to participate in the emerging mechanisation economy.
“Nigeria is open for investment in agricultural mechanization. We are not seeking capital merely to purchase machines. We are seeking partners to build an enduring agricultural technology and services ecosystem,” he said.
He added that agriculture had increasingly become a sector for enterprise, technology and wealth creation, urging young Nigerians to participate as owners, operators and innovators.
The government plans to establish a shared responsibility framework for implementing the policy.
Under the framework, the Federal Government will provide policy, standards and coordination, while state governments will support land access, infrastructure and implementation.
The private sector is expected to invest in and deliver mechanisation services, while financial institutions will develop financing and risk-sharing products to make agricultural machinery more accessible.
Development partners and research institutions will provide technical support.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Marcus Ogunbiyi, said mechanisation should no longer be viewed simply as the acquisition of tractors and farm equipment.
He identified it as an important component of food security, agricultural productivity, rural prosperity, youth employment, women’s economic empowerment, private-sector investment and national competitiveness.
“A tractor without an operator is an idle asset. A machine without maintenance is a depreciating investment. Equipment without finance cannot reach the farmer,” Ogunbiyi said.
He said the government’s objective was to build a national mechanisation ecosystem connecting machinery with finance, trained operators, maintenance services, spare parts, digital systems, research, standards, farmers and markets.
He also emphasised the need to match technology with farmers’ specific needs, noting that machinery should be appropriate for farm size and terrain, while financing should reflect farmers’ cash flow.
The new policy could create opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses across multiple parts of the agricultural value chain.
Ogunbiyi identified machinery assembly and leasing, mechanisation service provision, maintenance, spare-parts manufacturing, digital fleet management, operator training, irrigation, post-harvest technology and agro-processing as areas with investment potential.
This approach could gradually shift Nigeria away from a model where farmers are expected to purchase expensive machinery individually towards a service-based system where farmers pay for access to equipment when needed.
The model could be particularly important for smallholder farmers who cannot afford to purchase and maintain tractors and other machinery.
Under a Mechanisation-as-a-Service model, entrepreneurs can own agricultural equipment and provide services to multiple farmers, potentially improving equipment utilisation while reducing the financial burden on individual farmers.
The government cited TracTrac Mechanisation Services Limited as an example of the type of private-sector enterprise it wants to expand.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Godson Ohuruogu, said TracTrac had reached more than 500,000 farmers, catalysed over N2 billion in investment, trained more than 6,000 youths, women and persons with disabilities, created more than 3,000 jobs and established 567 cooperatives.
The company has also deployed tractors and labour-saving devices through its operations and the ISSAM Project with the Mastercard Foundation.
Ohuruogu said the experience demonstrated that collaboration between government and private businesses could produce measurable results when mechanisation services are designed around farmers’ needs.
He stressed that the new national policy should ultimately be judged by its impact on farmers, including whether mechanisation services reach them on time and at affordable prices.
The Federal Government is also positioning the mechanisation programme as an opportunity for young Nigerians and women to enter the agricultural economy beyond traditional farming.
Rather than limiting participation to farmers, the emerging ecosystem could support entrepreneurs who operate machinery, manage equipment fleets, provide repairs, manufacture spare parts, offer digital solutions or run mechanisation service centres.
This could also contribute to youth employment by creating skilled roles around equipment operation, technology, engineering, logistics and maintenance.
The focus on women-led cooperatives and businesses could similarly create opportunities for women to participate in agricultural technology and service delivery rather than remaining concentrated only at the production end of the value chain.
Kyari cited Borno State as an example of state-level commitment to agricultural development.
He noted that Governor Babagana Zulum had delivered 200 truckloads of fertiliser to farmers and supported more than a dozen solar-powered irrigation systems and sites designed to extend the farming season.
Such investments could complement mechanisation by addressing other constraints facing farmers, including irrigation, access to inputs and the ability to cultivate beyond the traditional rainy season.
The Federal Government has now ratified the National Agricultural Mechanisation Policy and inaugurated its Implementation Taskforce, marking the beginning of the policy’s implementation phase.
For Nigeria’s agricultural sector, the focus will now shift from policy development to execution.
The success of the strategy will depend on whether farmers, particularly smallholders, can access affordable mechanisation services and whether private businesses can build sustainable enterprises around equipment, finance, technology and agricultural services.
If effectively implemented, the policy could create a broader agricultural business ecosystem in which tractors are only one part of a much larger market involving MSMEs, financial institutions, technology companies, service providers and farmers.
For entrepreneurs, the emerging opportunity is therefore not simply in owning tractors. It is in building the businesses and services that will make agricultural mechanisation accessible, affordable and sustainable across Nigeria
