Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Abubakar Kyari has recalled that on July 13, 2023, President Bola Tinubu has declared a state of emergency on food security and issued a presidential directive for urgent and innovative solutions.

He noted that mechanisation was placed at the core of the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda. The minister outlined four key initiatives launched under the Tinubu administration’s mechanisation policy, including the John Deere Tractorisation Programme, the Greener Hope Project, the Green Imperative Programme, and the newly launched 2000 tractors procured from Belarus.

According to him, the Belarus Project, implemented in collaboration with AfTrade DMCC and supported by the Republic of Belarus, delivered 2,000 high-quality tractors, 10 combine harvesters, 12 mobile workshops, 9,000 implements, and 9,000 spare part kits.

The minister said: “Never in Nigeria’s history have we witnessed an agricultural mechanisation initiative of this scale, ambition, and national focus.

“We are today unveiling the single largest mechanisation drive ever undertaken in our country.” He added that the programme was expected to cultivate over 550,000 hectares of farmland, produce more than 2 million metric tons of staple food, create over 16,000 jobs, and directly benefit over 550,000 farming households.