Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari.

Nigerian farmers have urged the Federal Gov­ernment to provide the modalities for the sale or distribution of the 2,000 trac­tors recently launched by Presi­dent Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

This is coming against the back­drop of anxieties over the process the newly unveiled mechanised ag­ricultural programme of the Feder­al Government would take.

Recall that President Tinubu recently launched 2,000 units of high-quality tractors with trail­ers, plows, harrows, sprayers, and planters as well as 10 state-of-the-art combined harvesters, 12 fully equipped mobile workshops, and 50 bulldozers for agricultural land development in Nigeria.

Other equipment commissioned by Mr. President, included over 9,000 complimentary implements and sets of spare parts.

Tinubu, who commissioned these tractors under his adminis­tration’s Renewed Hope Agricul­tural Mechanisation Programme, said it was designed to cultivate over 550,000 hectares of farmland, gener­ate more than two million metric tons of staple food, create over 16,000 jobs, and directly benefit more than 550,000 farming households across all six geo-political zones in Nigeria.

He reiterated the resolve of his administration to achieve food se­curity through the deployment of agricultural mechanisation in the country.

Speaking with Sunday Indepen­dent in Abuja, Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), described the initiative as “a very welcome development,” adding that the farmers had been waiting eager­ly for the modalities of the sale or distribution of the farm machinery.

On whether the provision of these tractors would scale up food production and reduce the high rate of food inflation in the country, Ibra­him said: “We believe in the simple laws of economics, which encapsu­late that the more the availability, the more the affordability, even if the demand remains high.

“We firmly believe that mechani­sation will help the scaling of pro­ductivity which will certainly bring down inflation due to increased availability.

“To sustainably improve food suf­ficiency and therefore bring about food security, we need to transpar­ently manage or implement the mechanisation window opened through the Renewed Hope Agri­cultural mechanisation.”

He further pointed out that the programme of mechanisation was work in progress, adding that the 2,000 tractors would be augmented by the John Deer and Green Imper­ative supply later. ­

 He expressed optimism that Nigeria’s mechanisation programme would remain on course until it reached a crescendo.

On the affordability of these tractors by small holder farm­ers, Ibrahim acknowledged that tractors were very costly, while advising the small holder farmers to form clusters so as to utilise these tractors hiring service schemes.

On the adaptability and suitability of these tractors to Nigerian soil, the Nation­al President of AFAN, said: “There are no functional trac­tor manufacturing plants in Nigeria. Therefore, they are naturally imported and should be assessed in use.

“I believe these tractors will work as it is not the first time that Nigeria is receiving trac­tors from Belarus.”

Apart from poor agricul­tural mechanisation, there had been issues of insecurity, climate change, low extension services, among others, which Nigerian farmers had been grappling with.

Ibrahim, who doubles as the President, Nigerian Agricultur­al Business Group, said the is­sues militating against agricul­tural productivity were being addressed contiguously by the government, adding, “we only need more efforts to definitely and finally deal with them.”

In his reaction, Dr. Olukayo­de Oyeleye, former Media Ad­viser to the former Minister of Agriculture, expressed fear that some of these tractors may end up in the backyards of poli­ticians and politically exposed persons.

On the large number of tractors purchased by the Fed­eral Government, Oyeleye said: “We hear self-adulation about the largest import of tractors so far in this country.

“But, that stands history on its head. It is not even the num­ber imported that matters, but how well utilised, economy, maintenance and longevity of the tractors.”

Oyeleye, an agribusiness analyst, who appeared on a live television programme, ad­vised the Federal Government not to allow bureaucracy and red tapism to bring down the distribution of these tractors to farmers.

He underscored the need to attract youth to farming through agricultural mecha­nisation.

Mr. Ibe Onuoha, a farmer, called for transparency in the distribution of the tractors, warning that it should not go the way of Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which was hijacked by “briefcase farmers.”

As part of measures to en­sure sustainability, he called for capacity building of farm­ers, who would handle these tractors and other farm imple­ments.

He further advised the Fed­eral Government to rise up and fight insecurity to enable farm­ers to return to their farmlands.

TOO LITTLE FOR A CRITICAL TIME

Bishop Herbert Ekechukwu, an economist, while speaking to Sunday Independent, noted that the programme launched on June 23, 2025 in Abuja, 2000 tractors was said to be accom­panied by 9,072 assorted agri­cultural implements to be dis­tributed nationwide.

He stated that the figure amounts to two tractors and 11 assorted agricultural imple­ments to a local government area.

Dr Ekechukwu stated: “So said, the programme is expect­ed to boost agricultural produc­tion in Nigeria and provide food security

“Secondly, it is to reduce manual labour and make agri­culture more attractive to the youth and to increase efficiency of production.

“The programme is expect­ed to support small holder farmers to enhance access to mechanised farming.”

However, Dr Ekechukwu warned: “I look at the pro­gramme with scepticism be­cause this is not the first time we are having a beautiful blue­print or roadmap to green rev­olution. Our archives are full of such policies that make us weary of this one.

“General Olusegun Obasanjo, first coming as mil­itary Head of State, brought Operation Feed the Nation (OFN). President Shehu Shagari brought in the Green Revolution.

“There are also others like the Fadama project, the ADPs, and the River Basins Develop­ment Authority, among others.

“Theoretically, they look beautiful on paper. But, so far, we have seen but little achieve­ments.

“With the astonishing high level of corruption and inse­curity today, one wonders how this is going to be.

“How can we be talking about increasing agricultural production and investment without first curbing insecuri­ty, stopping Fulani herders and farmers clashes?

“Already, the agricultural belt of Nigeria is under siege. The Fulani herders have over­run the Middle Belt. They slaughter farmers continuous­ly with ever increasing dimen­sions.

“Their hectares of culti­vated crops are their grazing ground. This is repeated all over Nigeria.

“How then can we have a sustainable agricultural rev­olution without solving this national malaise?

“Secondly, the government has no business in the busi­ness of farming. Government should provide an enabling en­vironment and allow investors to do the business of farming.

“Looking at the tractorisa­tion from the figure provided, it boils down to two tractors and 11 assorted agricultural implements to a local govern­ment area. This is a far cry from needed implements.”

Dr Ekechukwu believed that the release of the tractors and other farm implements was a right step in the right direction to boost agricultural produc­tion.

Dr Victor Mathew, a security expert and Executive Director, Kingdom Advocacy Network (KAN), stated: “A nation that cannot feed itself is not fit to be among the comity of nations.

“Nigeria is currently facing a food crisis and food inflation, especially because of herds­men problems, concrete efforts must be made to address this challenge and improve food production.

“I think the 2,000 tractors injected into the system is not enough in a population of over 200 million persons. The Feder­al Government should do more, subsidy removal has placed so much resources at their dis­posal.

“The crisis we have at hand is beyond 2,000 tractors. The government must have a mar­shal and integrated plan to boost food production.

“The government must cre­ate the enabling environment to attract people to go into agri­culture. The agricultural value chain must be affected. If not, the 2,000 tractors won’t have positive impact

“How can the tractors even be used when farmers are afraid to go to the farms?

In conclusion, mere 2,000 tractors are good, but obviously are not enough to deal with the food crisis and food inflation.”