By Ngozi Nwankwo
Federal Government has launched AGRI360, a new mechanization training initiative aimed at building a mechanization-as-a-service economy and boosting all-year food production in Nigeria.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, unveiled the programme on Wednesday at a National Colloquium on the Role of Women and Youth in Agricultural Mechanization held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.
The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, represented by the wife of the Vice President, Hajiya Nana Shettima, said AGRI360 would train 5,000 women and young people in agricultural mechanization, digital agriculture, equipment operation and maintenance, entrepreneurship, and agribusiness management.
She described the initiative as a strategic investment in modern agriculture, noting that the sector’s future depends on equipping youth and women with skills, tools and opportunities.
“Agricultural mechanization will enhance traditional farming methods by increasing productivity, reducing the physical burden associated with farming and making agriculture more attractive to young Nigerians,” she said.
The First Lady added that mechanization would also create jobs in equipment operation, processing, logistics, technology and other areas across the agricultural value chain.
Kyari said the government’s ambition is to build a Mechanization-as-a-Service economy where farmers can access the right machinery at the right time and at affordable cost.
“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,” he said.
The minister explained that mechanization would allow farmers to accomplish in hours what previously took days, and create employment for operators, technicians, and service providers.
“Nigeria’s mechanization challenge is therefore also an employment opportunity. Every machine placed into productive use creates a need for trained operators, technicians, maintenance and repair services, equipment managers and viable service businesses,” he said.
He added that AGRI360 complements the National Agricultural Mechanization Policy and National Agricultural Mechanization Investment Strategy launched in August 2026.
The minister stressed the need to pair mechanization with irrigation to enable all-year production.
“We cannot continue to organize agriculture around the expectation of the rains. When farmers have access to both water and machinery, we can extend production beyond a single season,” he said.
Minister of State for Agriculture, Sen. Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said the three-year AGRI360 framework is specifically designed to close the gender gap in mechanization.
He noted that women make up 49% of the agricultural labour force but face systematic exclusion from mechanization, resulting in an estimated $2.3 billion in forgone earnings annually due to low productivity.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, said AGRI360 is conceived as a national mechanization skills, enterprise and service-delivery ecosystem.
He said the initiative would create pathways for women and youth to become machinery operators, technicians, drone operators, precision-agriculture specialists, software developers and fabricators.
Managing Director of Mela-Chiyoma Pat Limited, Chief Patricia Stan-Dioka, said the programme is designed to translate skills into jobs and businesses, with opportunities across machinery coupling, maintenance, operation and service delivery.
Captain Tractors India, a partner in the initiative, said it would deploy 50 tractors to each state and train youths in engineering and mechanics to handle the equipment. The company has 32 years of experience and operates in 90 countries.
The colloquium 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 industry leaders.
