Nigerian farmers and agricultural stakeholders have called on the Federal Government to clearly outline the modalities for the sale and distribution of the 2,000 tractors recently launched under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme.
The demand comes amid growing concerns about the effectiveness, transparency, and sustainability of the initiative, which was officially launched on June 23, 2025, in Abuja.
The programme includes 2,000 high-quality tractors equipped with trailers, plows, harrows, sprayers, and planters, alongside 10 combined harvesters, 12 mobile workshops, 50 bulldozers, and over 9,000 assorted implements and spare parts.
According to President Tinubu, the mechanisation drive aims to cultivate over 550,000 hectares of farmland, produce more than two million metric tons of staple food, create over 16,000 jobs, and directly benefit over 550,000 farming households across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones.
While the initiative has been lauded as a significant step toward achieving food security, farmers have demanded clarity on how the equipment would be allocated and managed.
Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), welcomed the move but stressed the importance of transparency and accessibility.
“Farmers are eager to know how the tractors will be distributed or sold.
"Mechanisation will increase productivity and eventually reduce food inflation, but it must be implemented transparently,” he said.
He advised smallholder farmers to form clusters to benefit from the tractor hiring scheme, given the high cost of individual ownership.
He also noted that while the tractors are imported and not manufactured in Nigeria, similar models from Belarus have been used successfully in the past.
However, some stakeholders expressed skepticism over the programme’s potential impact.
Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, a former media adviser to a past Minister of Agriculture, warned that without transparency and accountability, the tractors might end up with politically connected individuals instead of genuine farmers.
“We’ve seen many well-intentioned agricultural programmes in the past that failed due to poor implementation.
"Bureaucracy and corruption must not be allowed to derail this one,” Oyeleye cautioned during a media appearance.
Other stakeholders pointed out that the scale of the intervention may be insufficient given Nigeria’s large population and food demands.
An Economist, Bishop Herbert Ekechukwu calculated that the distribution would amount to roughly two tractors per local government area, a figure he described as “a far cry from what is needed.”
He cited past agricultural policies such as Operation Feed the Nation and the Green Revolution as examples of ambitious plans that failed due to corruption and insecurity.
“We cannot talk of food security without addressing the persistent insecurity that keeps farmers away from their land,” he noted.
Farmer Ibe Onuoha echoed the call for transparency and urged the government to avoid repeating the mistakes of previous schemes like the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme, which was allegedly hijacked by non-practicing “briefcase farmers.”
Dr. Victor Mathew, Executive Director of the Kingdom Advocacy Network, underscored the urgent need for a broader, integrated approach.
“Two thousand tractors are not enough for a country of over 200 million people. The government must address insecurity and develop the entire agricultural value chain,” he stated.
