Sixty nine days after the federal government launched 2,000 tractors and other implements for mechanised farming, they are yet to be distributed to farmers, Daily Trust reports.

This has sparked outrage among farmers’ groups who expressed concerns that this year’s wet season is slipping away.

This is just as the governors of the six North-East states have called for subsidies on farm inputs in order to avert a potential food crisis across the country.

They added that the North East still was confronted by daunting humanitarian and infrastructural challenges.

They stated this in a communiqué issued at the end of the 12th meeting of the North-East Governors’ Forum (NEGF) held on Saturday in Jalingo, Taraba State.

The governors expressed concerns that the rising cost of agricultural inputs was affecting farmers in the zone.

To avert impending food crises ahead, the Forum called for more subsidies to farmers and robust preparation for dry season farming.

Daily Trust recalled that in 2024, the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration ordered the direct purchase of 2,000 tractors.

The tractors and other implements were procured to increase farm mechanisation drive in was what touted as part of the moves by the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda to reduce food inflation, increase food production and reduce foreign currency expenditure.

Tinubu had, in 2023, declared a state of emergency on food security and identified agricultural mechanisation as a key component of boosting food production nationwide.

The president, while launching the 2,000 tractors on June 24, 2025, had said they would be distributed nationwide through a service-provider model to support small-holder farmers with access to modern equipment, reduce manual labour and increase yields.

The equipment, which was supplied in collaboration with AfTrade DMCC and supported by the Republic of Belarus, comprised 2,000 tractors, 10 combine harvesters, 12 mobile workshops, 9,000 implements and 9,000 spare part kits.

It is one of the four key initiatives launched under the Tinubu administration’s mechanisation policy. Others are the John Deere Tractorisation Programme, the Greener Hope Project and the Green Imperative Programme.

The government had said the Belarus tractors’ programme was expected to cultivate more than 550,000 hectares of farmland, produce over two million metric tons of staple food, create over 16,000 jobs and directly benefit over 550,000 farming households.

Other components under the 2000 tractors deal include “mandatory operator training, GPS-enabled tracking for accountability, a structured repayment model and pro bono equipment allocations to research and training institutions.”

The government had also assured that the initiative would engage Nigeria’s youths through new roles in equipment handling, maintenance, logistics, extension services and agri-tech innovation.

However, findings by Daily Trust indicated that the tractors and the implements had not been delivered to farmers.

Our correspondent visited the National Agriculture Seed Council at Sheda, Kwali Area Council in Abuja where the tractors were commissioned and discovered that they were still stored there.

While farmers pleaded for immediate release of the tractors and other implements, highly placed government officials told Daily Trust that there was no directive yet from the Presidency for distribution.

It’s getting too late – Farmers

Speaking to Daily Trust, the president of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Architect Kabiru Ibrahim, said the association was surprised that the equipment were yet to be distributed.

“Farmers are as surprised as everybody else that the 2,000 tractors and other farm machinery launched by Mr President have not been distributed yet. While we await the modalities of distributing these items, we plead with the administration to distribute them equitably and as soon as possible.

“The year 2025 is the year that we thought was going to be the veritable litmus test of the state of emergency on food security when the tractors were launched, but it is still work in progress,” he said.

Ibrahim said the tractors should be distributed to clusters of small-holder farmers because “no small farmer can buy a tractor now.”

“The most effective distribution system will be achieved by choosing or identifying areas of need and allocating the tractors to determined groups of small holder farmers to lease or use free of charge.

“The 2,000 tractors should be given to each state on need basis in the first instance and offered for hire service to any farmer who needs the service in the last analysis,” he added.

On his part, Dr Ogbo Douglas, president of the All Farmers Progressive Association, in an interview with Daily Trust, described the delay in the distribution of the equipment as “very unfortunate”.

He stated: “The same government came in and hurriedly declared state of emergency on food security with high hopes to empower farmers. Till today, no hope in sight to do so. 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 envisage.”

Douglas said the association had 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 said.

In the same vein, the president of the Community Allied Farmers Association of Nigeria, Austin Maduka, queried the federal government’s commitment to its mechanisation policy.

He alleged that it was disappointing for the government to delay the distribution of the equipment after much publicity.

“I find the situation concerning and disappointing. The delay in distributing tractors to farmers despite their commissioning months ago raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the federal government’s mechanisation policy.

“Given the timing, with the wet season nearing its end, the delay has significant implications for farmers who could have benefited from the tractors. This situation suggests that the policy’s implementation is not aligned with the needs of farmers, which is crucial for its success.

“In my view, the federal government mechanisation policy is currently not on track. The slow pace of implementation and distribution of tractors indicate a disconnect between policy formulation and execution. For the policy to achieve its goals of supporting farmers and improving agricultural productivity, immediate action is needed to address these bottlenecks and ensure that farmers receive the support they need in a timely manner,” he stated.

A farmer in Kano, Abdulrashid Na’ibi, said they were earnestly waiting for the tractors.

“When the federal government made the pronouncement that 2,000 tractors would be procured, it was a huge relief for us. We also watched on some TV stations the arrival and the uploading of the tractors. This was before the commencement of the rainy season.

“But, sadly, the cropping season is coming to an end and the tractors have remained elusive. We hope the government will do something immediately,” he said.

Another farmer in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, who gave his name as Mathew, commended President Tinubu for the initiative, but advised that the tractors should be distributed immediately.

“Our expectation is that we would get the tractors for hire at subsidised rates to enable us handle our farms. I want to call on the president to give explicit directive to those in charge to release the tractors. This is no time for administrative red tape,” he said.

We’re awaiting Presidency’s directive – Ministry’s officials

Some of the officials in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security told our correspondent, on condition of anonymity, that the delay in the distribution of the equipment was not from the ministry.

They said the ministry was waiting for a directive from the Presidency.

“The whole thing was handled by the presidency. We don’t have any financial details of the project at the ministry level.

“The minister too has received lot of calls from members of the National Assembly and farmers’ groups for the tractors, but he cannot order the distribution without the go-ahead from the Villa,” one of the officials said.

Another senior government official in the ministry disclosed that the ministry had sent a memo to President Tinubu seeking authorisation to distribute the tractors.

The official said that farmers and other stakeholders had been going to the ministry over tractors’ distribution.

He said the ministry had come up with the modalities for the distribution, state-by-state and geopolitical zones “but we are awaiting the presidential approval.”

The official expressed optimism that with President Tinubu’s return from his trip to Brazil, “the approval will be given the coming weeks.”

Sources at the Department of Mechanisation, which is supposed to oversee the distribution, also said the department had not received any instruction.

Meanwhile, efforts by Daily Trust to get a reaction of the Presidency were not successful.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga and the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala could not be reached for comments through their mobile telephone lines. They also did not reply to text and WhatsApp messages sent to them.

We’ll get approval soon – Minister

Daily Trust reports that the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, while speaking on the subject with a farmers’ group in Abuja, recently, confirmed that the ministry was indeed waiting for the president’s approval to distribute the tractors.

“Mr. President will soon give us the go-ahead to distribute. We’ll come up with the financing structure that you’ll see that will be very, very attractive to the farmers. But one thing that we must make sure (does not happen is that) tractors are not for decoration. Tractors are meant to work. And so even if you have a farmland that is, I’ll give you an example, that is 100 hectares, we must make sure that you also help the ones surrounding your farmland. It is not only to do your 100 hectares and go and pack it.

“Because you are getting a concessionary price from the government, you must also pass on that concession to the other farmers. We are not asking you to go and do it free-of-charge. You will charge them.

“We will give you prices they will charge that will be affordable to the farmers around your community, so that the tractor should do nothing less than 400 – 420 hectares per year. And we’ll have trackers on these tractors to make sure that they are geofenced,” he said.

The background

The launch of the 2,000 Belarus tractors followed the initial $70 million (N3 billion) contract which the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, through the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), signed with AGCOMS International Trading Limited, a sub-dealer of John Deere, to supply 2,000 mechanised equipment and boost food production in Nigeria.

The minister, Kyari, had, in March 2024 during a media chat, said John Deree would deliver 2,000 tractors yearly for the next five years as signed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ministry.

The minister had, at that time, said John Deere would deliver 500 tractors by the end of May and the rest in September 2024.

The House of Representatives had, on December 17, 2024, mandated its Committee on Agricultural Production and Services to probe the non-delivery of 2,000 and 100 units of tractors and combined harvesters respectively under the Presidential Food Security Initiative and Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Drive.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion by the member representing Edu/Moro/Patigi Federal Constituency, Kwara State, Mr Saba Adam.

The House also mandated the committee to investigate the N138.61 billion MoU signed by the federal government and the AFTRADE DMCC for the establishment of a tractor assembly plant in Nigeria.

What Tinubu, Kyari said during tractors’ launch

President Tinubu total Nigerians during the launch that the 2,000 tractors and the implements would be distributed nationwide to support smallholder farmers with access to modern equipment, reduce manual labour, and increase yields.

“To all stakeholders receiving this equipment, deploy it with maximum efficiency. We will work with you, supervise you, and hold you accountable,” the President stated.

“We envision Nigeria as a global agricultural powerhouse—supplying quality produce to international markets while ensuring every citizen can access affordable, nutritious food. That is why we took a bold decision to establish this new agricultural mechanisation programme. We are just beginning.

“We must seize this opportunity to achieve agricultural independence. Nigeria has the land, the people, and the tools. Let history recall this day as the beginning of Nigeria’s agricultural renaissance—where modern technology met our farmers’ legendary resilience to usher in greater prosperity,” he said.

The Minister of Agriculture, who also spoke during the launch, described the equipment as historic.

“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,” the minister said.

This was no longer feasible as the equipment was not distributed when needed to create the impact envisage by the Minister.

Past failed mechanisation programmes

The administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari had also promised to procure tractors.

In 2018, the then Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, had assured farmers of government’s support with 10, 000 tractors from John Deere within five years to scale up mechanised farming in the country. That did not happen.

Similarly, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono, during his tenure in 2021 said that the Federal Government was targeting about 60, 000 tractors to drive the Agricultural Mechanization Programme.

According to him, among other things, the programme would guarantee a paradigm shift from subsistent farming to commercial agro industrial farming for the production of food, the acquisition of agricultural processing facilities, the manufacturing of fertiliser, and the improvement of value chains. But that did not happen before he left office.

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