By Benson Daniel
The Federal Government has unveiled a new National Agricultural Mechanisation Policy aimed at transforming farming practices, increasing food production and reducing the heavy dependence on manual labour across the country.
The policy is being implemented alongside a major mechanisation programme involving the deployment of 2,000 heavy duty tractors and more than 9,000 agricultural implements nationwide.
Under the initiative, the tractors will be deployed in phases through Mechanisation Service Providers rather than being handed over directly to individual farmers. The arrangement is designed to allow smallholder farmers to access mechanised services without having to bear the high cost of purchasing and maintaining tractors.
The government said each tractor has the capacity to service approximately 600 hectares of farmland annually. Based on the planned deployment, the programme is expected to support more than 1.2 million farmers and facilitate cultivation across more than 1.5 million hectares every year.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, said the mechanisation drive was designed to address Nigeria’s long standing deficit in agricultural machinery while creating a more sustainable system for farmers and agribusiness operators.
The first phase of the programme involves 600 tractors, with another 750 and 650 units expected to follow, bringing the total deployment to 2,000 tractors.
The government is also planning the establishment of a major tractor assembly plant with the capacity to produce between 2,000 and 4,000 tractors annually. The facility is expected to strengthen local manufacturing, reduce dependence on imported agricultural machinery and create new opportunities within Nigeria’s industrial and agricultural value chains.
The planned assembly plant forms part of a wider effort to build domestic capacity around agricultural equipment. The government also plans to establish seven mega mechanisation service centres and deploy 36 mobile service trucks to provide technical support and maintenance services.
Each tractor deployed under the programme is expected to receive two years of free service support. The maintenance component is intended to prevent the equipment from becoming idle because of breakdowns, a challenge that has affected previous agricultural mechanisation initiatives.
Nigeria’s low level of mechanisation has remained one of the major constraints on agricultural productivity. A large number of farmers still depend on hoes, cutlasses and other basic tools, limiting the amount of land that can be cultivated and increasing the time and labour required for farm operations.
The new policy seeks to change that situation by making mechanised services more accessible to farmers while encouraging private sector participation in the operation and maintenance of agricultural equipment.
The government is also combining mechanisation with financing support. About N250 billion has been mobilised to support one million smallholder farmers during the 2026 wet season, while a N50 billion catalytic financing facility is expected to support agro industrial investments and strengthen agricultural businesses.
Officials said the combination of machinery, financing and technical support would help farmers expand cultivated areas, improve yields and reduce production costs.
The policy is also expected to create employment opportunities for young people and women through Mechanisation Service Providers and other businesses connected to equipment operations, repairs, logistics and agricultural services.
For Nigeria, the success of the programme will depend heavily on effective distribution, maintenance, financing and monitoring. Ensuring that tractors remain operational and reach farming communities at the right time will be critical to achieving the expected increase in food production.
If successfully implemented, the National Agricultural Mechanisation Policy could mark a significant shift from subsistence farming towards more commercial and technology driven agriculture, while strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to produce food on a larger scale.
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