Nigeria strengthens agriculture with 500 new John Deere tractors

Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has said that his country has forged a partnership with the John Deere Group, which will see the delivery of 500 tractors to the West African state. He told the media at an event in Abuja that the procurement is part of a broader effort by the current administration to enhance agricultural yields through mechanization.

The delivery of the first batch of tractors is scheduled for completion by the end of May, while the remainder will be delivered in September 2024. This initial shipment is just the first phase of a larger plan. According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between John Deere and the Nigerian Ministry, there is an expectation to supply 2,000 tractors annually over the next five years.

In addition to the tractor initiative, the Minister revealed the government’s recent procurement of 58,500 tonnes of milled rice from the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria to stabilize market forces. He also mentioned the government’s appeal to the World Food Program (WFP) to avoid bulk purchases from the market, aiming to prevent exacerbation of the current food price inflation.

Furthermore, Kyari highlighted the release of 2.15 million bags of assorted fertilizers, valued at over 100 billion Naira ($70.18mn), by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Nigerian farmers.