Nigeria Unveils Mechanisation Policy, Targets 4,000 Tractors Annually for Food Sovereignty

Nigeria is embarking on a transformative journey to achieve food sovereignty with the unveiling of its National Agricultural Mechanisation Policy and National Agricultural Mechanisation Investment Strategy. Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, announced the new framework designed to foster a commercially viable mechanisation ecosystem.

A key component of the strategy is the planned establishment of a mega tractor assembly plant with the capacity to produce between 2,000 and 4,000 tractors annually. This initiative signals a move away from solely procuring machinery towards developing domestic industrial capacity and reducing reliance on imported equipment. The government is actively seeking to transition from fragmented public interventions to sustainable, private-sector-driven mechanisation services.

“

The real test is whether those machines become productive economic assets, maintained, financed, utilised, monitored and accessible to our farmers.

The policy aims to mobilize capital, technology, skills, and entrepreneurship within the agricultural sector, ensuring machinery is accessible to farmers when and where it is needed. The Renewed Hope National Agricultural Mechanisation Programme (RH-NAMP) has already begun procuring and deploying 2,000 tractors and over 9,000 assorted implements, described as the largest agricultural mechanisation program in Africa.

Minister Kyari stressed that success will be measured by the productivity and accessibility of these machines, not just their acquisition. Modern mechanisation will encompass the entire agricultural value chain, from land preparation to logistics and transportation. The initiative also prioritizes integrating young Nigerians, women, and persons with disabilities as equipment operators, technicians, engineers, entrepreneurs, and service providers, creating jobs and fostering a sustainable mechanisation economy.

“

The country must move beyond tractor procurement, adding that the current administration was seeking to shift the country from fragmented public interventions to sustainable, private-sector-enabled mechanisation services.