The federal authorities has inked a $70 million procurement contract with AGCOMS Worldwide Buying and selling Restricted, a John Deere Nigerian gross sales vendor, to ship 2,000 tractors to farmers as a part of a nationwide mechanisation programme.
The contemporary deal, in line with the directive of President Bola Tinubu, can be spearheaded by the Nationwide Agricultural Improvement Fund (NADF) to implement the 2023 10,000 tractors Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the agricultural equipment manufacturing large, John Deere as one of many federal authorities’s key mechanisation programmes.
The procurement contract covers the provision of tractors, together with plows, harrows, ridges and 100 mixed harvesters with the primary batch anticipated to be delivered earlier than the moist planting season begins.
Abuja and Lagos State will function the gathering centres with farmers anticipated to pay on instalments.
NADF govt secretary, Mohammed Abu Ibrahim, instructed journalists in Abuja throughout the signing of the contract that one other essential part of the settlement contains the institution of an meeting plant close to Nigerian ports to make sure that the tractors are constructed domestically.
LEADERSHIP Weekend recalled that in October 2024, the Federal Government Council (FEC) mandated NADF to take over the deployment of 10,000 tractors nationwide beneath the John Deere settlement.
The preliminary MoU which was signed between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Meals Safety and John Deere was a part of the federal authorities’s plan to supply and provide 10,000 tractors to farmers over 5 years, in tranches of two,000 models yearly, starting from 2024.
Nevertheless, greater than a yr afterwards, no tractors have been delivered, inflicting concern amongst stakeholders, together with the Home of Representatives that not too long ago known as for an investigation into the non-delivery of the gear.
In line with Ibrahim, the brand new deal is to make sure the speedy supply of the gear in alignment with President Tinubu’s technique to diversify the financial system and enhance agricultural mechanisation.
Talking additional throughout the contract signing ceremony involving the minister of Agriculture and Meals Safety, Abubakar Kyari, the NADF boss mentioned, “The Nationwide Agricultural Improvement Fund has been mandated to implement one of many 4 mechanisation programmes of the federal authorities of Nigeria, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his aspiration to see that Nigeria transits from a monolithic financial system and see that agriculture turns into what it’s.
“The one we’re implementing is the John Deere 2,000 tractors. The objective is to assemble the tractors domestically, which is able to create jobs and be sure that the expertise behind these machines is absolutely built-in into Nigeria’s agricultural framework.
“We’ve additionally signed an settlement with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to facilitate the importation and supply of those tractors to numerous areas throughout the nation.”
In his remarks, the minister famous that the programme is geared toward revitalising Nigeria’s agricultural sector by growing mechanisation, increasing farmlands and addressing the challenges of an growing older farming inhabitants.
The minister added that the mechanisation coverage was designed to draw youth and ladies into agriculture by lowering the drudgery related to conventional farming strategies.
Kyari confused the necessity for swift implementation to organize for the upcoming moist season and known as on AGCOMS Worldwide to expedite supply and distribution logistics.
The nation director of AGCOMS Worldwide, Chijioke Okoli, defined that the $70 million procurement bundle contains coaching programmes for native technicians and ongoing technical assist to maximise the utility of the gear.
“The meeting plant will enable Nigerian youths to realize hands-on expertise with the expertise behind these tractors, guaranteeing sustainability and long-term use.
The whole procurement worth is about $70 million, and that’s the worth to get it right down to the gathering centre in Abuja and Lagos,” Okoli mentioned.
