By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Federal Government yesterday said it had taken delivery of 255 tractors out of 2000 it signed with a private firm about a year ago to distribute to farmers.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents on efforts to reduce food inflation, which is currently about 34 percent.
He also said that the government had started the plan to reorganize and recapitalize the Bank of Agriculture, which he said would be concluded before the end of the first quarter of 2025.
All the efforts Kyari explained are moves by President Bola Tinubu’s administration for its Renewed Hope Agenda, which is geared towards reducing food inflation, increasing food production, and reducing foreign currency expenditures.
The Minister said that the 255 tractors that arrived were contained in 85 containers, each with three tractors, adding that the government will also distribute 1,200 trailers in addition to the tractors.
He further said that 9000 spare parts would be expected to come with the procurement.
*To conclude recapitalisation of Bank of Agriculture before 1st quarter, 2025
Kyari declared that the recapitalization of the Bank of Agriculture would be completed before the end of the first quarter of 2025 to support the funding of smallholder farming activities.
The bank’s recapitalization, which has dragged on for years, is seen as a panacea for inadequate funding of commercial agriculture. However, statistical evidence shows that the highest commercial bank loan the sector had between 2014 and 2021 was N1.04trn in 2020, which was only 5.15 percent of the total commercial bank loan in seven years.
He noted that the bank, with about 109 branches, has the potential to aid funding for the agricultural sector.
Recall that at a meeting of the National Council of Privatisation, NCP, in 2024, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chairman of the Council, inaugurated a committee headed by Wale Edu, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, to work out modalities for the bank’s resuscitation.
The move is part of the government’s response to the escalating food insecurity and strategic interventions to mitigate the crisis.
Kyari explained that these efforts are complemented by public financing mechanisms, development partners, and private banks, collectively working to strengthen agricultural programs across the country.
He cited successful partnerships with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a United Nations organisation based in Rome.
In 2024, the positive outcomes of IFAD-funded projects—such as the Livelihood Improvement of Family Enterprise for the Niger Delta—led to an additional grant of $32m, along with an extension of the project’s timeline, he revealed.
The Value Chain Development Nigeria programme also secured a two-year extension; occurrences, Kyari argued, further illustrate the faith development partners have in the administration’s ongoing agricultural reforms.
The Agric Minister also noted that the government addresses post-harvest losses through cold storage and improving logistics.
While acknowledging that the 2024 budget faced competing headlines nationwide, he emphasised the government’s commitment to security in the 2025 budget.
He noted that many of the agricultural gains seen in 2024 were tied to newly accessible farmlands in regions previously hindered by insecurity.
He said, “I’m sure you must have seen the budget, and by having 2024, there are competing needs in Nigeria, but you must also appreciate that one area that we are highly excited about is the emphasis on security by Mr President in the 2025 Budget.
“We have seen, and we know, that some of the successes that we received in 2024 were a result of some of those inaccessible lands due to insecurity that opened up. Case in point is Bono State, where the terrorism was very high.
“My local government (Mobbar) before now was not even accessible to farmers, but there is one place where, along the river, as long as 18 kilometres, they did bumper harvest of rice in the dry season last year. In many other areas, Katsina State has reported an improvement of almost 70 percent in security, which has opened up farmland for our farmers.
“So, it’s not as if we are to support every smallholder farmer. No country can do that. But what we are saying is we are also exposing our smallholder farmers to the issue of having access to funding and credit.
“I also missed the reorganization and recapitalization of the Bank of Agriculture. It’s in the process, and very soon, within the first quarter of this year, you will see a report outlining the reorganization and the recapitalization of the Bank of Agriculture.
“Bank of Agriculture has branches in all 109 senatorial districts and can reach out quickly to those farmers.
“What we are saying is the smallholder farmer lacks capital. So we have written to some banks and are also reorganizing the Bank of Agriculture to support what the government is doing in the sense of public financing in the budgets and what have you.
“The budget alone cannot support agriculture, but we must look at the development partners there. We’re very excited; we’re happy with the development partners. As a case in point, IFAD, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, is a United nation Rome-based organization.”
On the number of tractors received, the Minister said, “Yesterday (Monday), I think while some of the members were with me, we had to call the agents, and they told us that they have 85 containers that have arrived, and they are coming almost weekly.
“So, if you interpolate, every container takes about three tractors, so do the calculations. So we’re looking at about 200 tractors that have arrived.
“But the commitment is not how much we have now; when will you give us the 2000 with all the 9000 implements? Because there will be 9000 implements. We are looking at 2000 tractors.
“That tractor cannot do anything, but we have a plough for every tractor. So we have 2000 ploughs. For every tractor, there’s a harrow; there will be 2000 harrows. Every tractor will have a seeder, which is a planter. Then we’ll also have a boom sprayer, which is 2000.
“Then, in addition, we have trailers, but the trailers, instead of 2,000, will be 1,200. It is like that because we still have trailers around. They are not something that spoils quickly. We have some that NASENI has started rehabilitating. So, they will be put together as part of what every tractor will have for those exercises.
“We also have 9000 sets of spare parts that will come with this procurement. Then, we also have 10 combined harvesters of 330 horsepower.
“These huge combined harvesters can do about one and a half hectares per hour. So, if you imagine, you can do nothing less than 10 hectares in one day. 10 hectares is like 13 football fields. So you could imagine harvesting a cornfield in just one harvester in one day.
“So we also have service vehicles, about 12 that will come. It’s a mobile workshop with all the items placed in the areas where we will have those tractors.”
On the positive side, Kyari said the “country experienced positive harvest in the 2024 farming season that has far exceeded what we had in the previous years.”
Kyari explained that these efforts are complemented by public financing mechanisms, development partners, and private banks, collectively working to strengthen agricultural programs across the country.
He cited successful partnerships with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a United Nations organisation based in Rome.
In 2024, the positive outcomes of IFAD-funded projects—such as the Livelihood Improvement of Family Enterprise for the Niger Delta—led to an additional grant of $32m, along with an extension of the project’s timeline, he revealed.
The Value Chain Development Nigeria programme also secured a two-year extension; occurrences, Kyari argued, further illustrate the faith development partners have in the administration’s ongoing agricultural reforms.
The Agric Minister also noted that the government addresses post-harvest losses through cold storage and improving logistics.
While acknowledging that the 2024 budget faced competing headlines nationwide, he emphasised the government’s commitment to security in the 2025 budget.
He noted that many of the agricultural gains seen in 2024 were tied to newly accessible farmlands in regions previously hindered by insecurity.
