By Stella Woke
The Federal Government has launched a three-year agricultural mechanisation training programme designed to equip 5,000 women and youths with technical and entrepreneurial skills to drive modern farming and year-round food production.
The AGRI360 Mechanization Training Initiative was unveiled at the National Colloquium on the Role of Women and Youth in Advancing Agricultural Mechanization held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.
The initiative is aimed at developing a mechanisation-as-a-service economy that will enable farmers to access machinery at the right time and at affordable costs.
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, represented by the wife of the Vice President, Hajiya Nana Shettima, commended the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security for introducing the programme.
In a statement signed by the Head, Department of Information, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, she said the initiative would train beneficiaries in agricultural mechanisation, digital agriculture, equipment operation and maintenance, entrepreneurship and agribusiness management.
She said mechanisation would increase agricultural productivity, reduce the physical burden of farming and make the sector more attractive to young Nigerians.
According to her, the opportunities created by mechanisation go beyond farming to areas such as equipment maintenance, agricultural processing, logistics and technology.
She also highlighted the growing adoption of digital technologies, precision farming, artificial intelligence and drones by young Nigerians in the agricultural sector.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said Nigeria could no longer depend primarily on manual labour to drive agricultural production.
"A farmer using a hoe should not be expected to compete with a farmer using modern machinery. A young Nigerian should not look at agriculture and see only physical labour. The future of Nigerian agriculture must tell a different story," Kyari said.
The minister explained that mechanisation would enable farmers to complete tasks within hours that could otherwise take days, while creating employment opportunities for machinery operators, technicians, mechanics, equipment managers and service providers.
Kyari said the Federal Government was working towards establishing a mechanisation-as-a-service economy where farmers would have access to suitable machinery when needed and at affordable rates.
He added that AGRI360 complements the National Agricultural Mechanization Policy and National Agricultural Mechanization Investment Strategy launched in August 2026.
The minister further stressed the need to combine mechanisation with irrigation and water management to enable farmers extend production beyond the rainy season.
"We cannot continue to organize agriculture around the expectation of the rains," he said.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said the AGRI360 programme was specifically designed to address the gender gap in agricultural mechanisation.
Abdullahi said women constitute 49 per cent of Nigeria's agricultural labour force but remain largely excluded from mechanisation, resulting in estimated forgone earnings of at least $2.3 billion annually, mainly because of low productivity.
He said the programme would provide women and youths with the skills required to participate effectively in the mechanisation ecosystem.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Marcus Olaniyi Ogunbiyi, described AGRI360 as more than a conventional training programme, saying it was designed as a national mechanisation skills, enterprise and service-delivery ecosystem.
He said participants could pursue careers as machinery operators, technicians, mechanics, drone operators, precision-agriculture specialists, software developers and fabricators.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Mela-Chiyoma Pat Limited, Chief Engineer Patricia Stan-Dioka, said the success of AGRI360 would ultimately be determined by its ability to translate training into jobs, businesses and sustainable enterprises.
One of the programme's partners, Captain Tractors India, said it would deploy 50 tractors to each state and train farmers in modern farming practices.
The company, which has 32 years of experience in producing mini and small tractors and operates in 90 countries, also said it would train Nigerian youths in engineering and mechanics to operate and maintain the equipment.
The event was attended by representatives of the governors of Imo, Abia and Lagos states, members of the National Assembly, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, development partners and captains of industry.