The National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy 2022–2027, which was posted on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, states as much. This is despite the Federal Government’s $1.2 billion Green Imperative Programme, which was introduced roughly two years ago.
The agricultural mechanization level in Nigeria is among the lowest in the world, according to the policy document. According to FMARD [Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development], Nigeria’s mechanization is at 0.027 horsepower per hectare, which is considerably below the FAO’s suggested level of 1.5 horsepower per hectare. During a joint press conference with the former minister of agriculture and rural development, Sabo Nanono, in June 2020, the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, revealed that the federal government was planning to implement a program called Green Imperative that it claimed would revolutionize agriculture in Nigeria.
Mohammed claimed the $1.2 billion scheme was a result of a bilateral agriculture development partnership between Nigeria and Brazil that began on June 6, 2016. He had stated that it will be executed over five to ten years with finance from the Development Bank of Brazil and Deutsche Bank and that it was intended to be included in Brazil’s Government-to-Government More Food International Programme.
Mohammed also stated that the program would result in the reactivation of six motor assembly plants in the country’s six geopolitical zones for the assembly of tractors and other implements, as well as the importation of Completely Knocked Down components for about 5,000 tractors and various implements per year for ten years (for local assembly). He stated that 632 mechanization service centers would also be built to serve primary production in the Federal Capital Territory and the 774 local government units.
The Federal Government also declared in April of last year that it will use roughly 60,000 tractors to power Nigeria’s agricultural mechanization initiative.
Nigeria however continues to have one of the lowest rates of mechanized farming in the entire globe. The absence of significant technology inputs harmed the agriculture industry, according to the policy statement.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Bwari Branch, Dr. Halimat Adediran, underlined the importance of engineers in the agriculture sector while underlining the importance of 2022 Engineering Week and the Annual General Meeting on Thursday. Dr. Mohammad Abukabar, the minister of agriculture and rural development, also spoke at the ceremony.
The minister said that through the Green Imperative Programme, the ministry was working to guarantee that tractors and other useful mechanization tools were accessible to farmers, particularly small-holder farmers.
