By Peter Omopo
First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has described agricultural mechanisation as critical to attracting more young Nigerians to farming, empowering women and strengthening Nigeria’s food security.
Tinubu made the remarks on Wednesday at the National Colloquium on the Role of Women and Youth in Advancing Agricultural Mechanisation in Nigeria, held at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja, where the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security unveiled the Agri360 Mechanisation Training Initiative.
The First Lady, who was represented at the event by the wife of the Vice President, Nana Shettima, also commended the ministry for launching the programme, which is expected to equip 5,000 women and young Nigerians across the country with practical skills for modern agricultural production.
According to her, the initiative would provide training in agricultural mechanisation, digital agriculture, equipment operation and maintenance, entrepreneurship and agribusiness management.
Tinubu said modernising agriculture through mechanisation would improve productivity, reduce the physical burden associated with traditional farming and make the sector more appealing to younger Nigerians.
She noted that the benefits of mechanisation would extend beyond crop production to areas such as machinery operation and maintenance, agricultural processing, logistics, technology and other segments of the agricultural value chain.
The First Lady further observed that young Nigerians were increasingly using digital technologies to transform agriculture, citing precision farming, artificial intelligence and drones as examples of innovations reshaping the sector.
She said the changing approach was helping young people view agriculture not merely as subsistence farming but as a viable business and career capable of creating wealth and improving livelihoods.
Tinubu also emphasised the importance of expanding opportunities for women in agriculture, stressing that providing them with relevant skills, productive resources and access to income generating opportunities would have positive effects on their families and communities.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, said mechanisation was essential to easing the burden of agricultural production and reducing the level of physical strength traditionally required for farming.
Kyari explained that the Agri360 initiative would cover the agricultural value chain from land preparation through production to value addition, while also addressing access to water and agricultural machinery.
He said the government was moving beyond discussions to concrete action by treating agriculture as an economic enterprise capable of improving the livelihoods of farmers and contributing significantly to national development.
The minister added that the initiative aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, which places agriculture at the centre of efforts to achieve food security, create jobs and drive economic growth.
Participants at the colloquium identified low levels of mechanisation, inadequate access to finance, limited technical skills and poor infrastructure as major constraints to agricultural productivity in Nigeria. The exclusion and limited participation of women and young people were also highlighted as challenges requiring urgent attention.
They stressed that expanding access to modern agricultural machinery and related skills could reduce the drudgery associated with farming, improve productivity, generate employment and make agriculture more attractive to Nigeria’s growing youth population.
The participants further maintained that greater inclusion of women and youths in mechanised agriculture would strengthen the country’s food production capacity while creating new opportunities across the wider agricultural value chain.
