Eight Months Later, Nigerian Farmers Yet to Receive Promised Tractors

News in Brief

• -Farmers across Nigeria are expressing frustration as tractors and farming machines promised under the Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme remain undistributed months after their launch. -Over 2,000 tractors and 9,000 other tools are reportedly idle due to bureaucratic delays and lack of presidential approval.

Several months after taking delivery and four months after launching nationwide distribution of tractors and mechanised farming machines by the federal government, Nigerian farmers have yet to get the promised farming tools.

As the 2025 Wet farming season is gradually closing, farmers have decried the delay in the distribution of the tractors secured by the President Tinubu-led administration’s Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme.

Reports by The Guardian reveal that the 2000 tractors and over 9000 other machinery are currently gathering dust at the headquarters of the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC). 

Findings in the report state that bureaucracy and indecision delay the distribution, as the  Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) says it is still awaiting directives from the Presidency on the modalities for distributing the farm implements.

Delayed Hope on Agricultural Mechanisation 

President Tinubu had earlier promised a transition to mechanised farming with a four-year target of deploying 8,000 tractors nationwide. His government took the first delivery of 2,000 Belarus tractors in February and launched its distribution with a flag-off ceremony on 23 June 2025 in Abuja.

The minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, had announced that the tractors would be distributed through three key models to ensure accessibility and maximise their impact on agriculture. He had hoped deployment would take place immediately as the farming season approached, allowing farmers access to affordable labour.

According to him, the first model would offer direct sales to individuals and organisations. The second model is a leasing scheme that makes the tools more affordable by enabling farmers to access tractors without the full upfront costs of ownership. The third model involves setting up tractor service centres within farming communities, which will allow farmers to rent them as needed for their operations.

The initiative was expected to substantially improve farming efficiency, reduce reliance on manual labour, and contribute significantly to the country’s long-term agricultural transformation goals.

However, amid a seeming lack of direction from the government, farmers continue to struggle with the high cost of labour, farm inputs, and transportation.

Farmers Decry Unfortunate Delay

Nigerian farmers, who were initially excited about the potential of the revolutionary programme, have decried the unfortunate delay in the distribution, as it continues to affect their food production capacity.

In different media interviews, the president of the All Farmers Progressive Association, Dr Ogbo Douglas, and his deputy, Daniel Okafor, criticised the silence. They noted that they had not even received any updates on the distribution of the farm implements.

“Farmers were very happy with the government at the equipment launch. We thanked them for that, but we are still waiting and monitoring the progress of the sharing formula,” Daniel Okafor said.

Dr Douglas described the situation as very unfortunate. He told Dailytrust that despite the government’s state of emergency proclamation on food security with plans to empower farmers, there has been no concrete attempt to do something. 

“More than two months now that the federal government launched the tractors, there is no sign of releasing them to farmers or end users to boost agriculture as envisaged," he said.

Douglas noted that the association had also made several efforts to participate in the process, but nothing was forthcoming.  

“When I visited the ministry to enquire, I was told that a memo is on the table of Mr President waiting for approval to distribute them,” he declared.

Agriculture experts have explained that this delay in distribution will affect the optimal use of the machinery, as tractor use is best deployed for land preparation early in the planting season, which for many Nigerian farmers is typically the wet season, and that is almost rounding up.

While other mechanised tools are needed for processing, storage, harvesting, and transportation at later stages, if the newly procured tractors are not deployed soon, Nigerian farmers may have to wait for the next farming season, except for the few who plant during dry season.