Agriculture experts have raised alarm over Nigeria’s acute shortage of tractors, warning that the deficit poses a major threat to food security and national development.
Speaking at an agricultural stakeholders’ forum in Abuja on Friday, Dr. Ibrahim Sule, an agricultural economist, said Nigeria has less than 50,000 functional tractors, far below the estimated 300,000 required to meet its mechanisation needs.
“This shortage is crippling productivity. Farmers are forced to rely on outdated manual methods, which limits yields and discourages young people from embracing agriculture,” Sule explained.
Other experts at the forum noted that while government policies often highlight mechanisation, poor implementation, lack of credit facilities, and high import duties on equipment have worsened the situation.
They urged both federal and state governments to adopt public-private partnerships to finance large-scale tractor leasing schemes and incentivise local manufacturing.
“Nigeria cannot achieve food security without mechanisation. Addressing the tractor deficit is urgent if we must feed our population and reduce import dependence,” one of the speakers stressed.
The warning comes amid rising food prices and concerns that low farm productivity may further deepen the country’s economic challenges.
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