Nigeria’s agricultural sector is set to receive a boost as John Deere, a leading American tractor manufacturer, plans to establish a tractor assembly plant there.
Vice President Kashim Shettima announced the company’s intention during a meeting with senior representatives from John Deere, led by Jason Brantley, the company’s Vice President of Production Systems.
The meeting was one of the outcomes of Shettima’s visit to the United States, where he met with various investors and business leaders to promote Nigeria’s economic opportunities.
Shettima expressed Nigeria’s commitment to using agriculture to address security challenges and improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers. He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was fully committed to revitalizing the Nigerian agricultural sector.
He also highlighted the potential of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), designed to enhance the agricultural value chain by providing infrastructure, services, and incentives for agro-processing activities.
Shettima assured the investors that Nigeria was open for discussions and partnerships and reminded them of Tinubu’s declaration of emergency on food security in August.
“We are open for discussions, for conversations towards fast-tracking the whole process. My principal, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is very eager to see that the full potential of the Nigerian agricultural sector is realized,” he said.
Brantley explained that John Deere’s planned investment in Nigeria aimed to harness the nation’s agricultural potential by introducing an organized system for tractor-hiring services catering to small-scale farmers nationwide.
He said that the initiative to establish a tractor assembly plant would not require any government investment. Instead, the company sought credit guarantees to enable individuals or groups interested in this initiative to access affordable credit.
John Deere is not the only foreign company interested in Nigeria’s agricultural sector. In September, Olam International, a Singapore-based agribusiness group, announced that it had invested $150 million in two animal feed mills and a poultry breeding farm in Nigeria.
According to the World Bank, Nigeria has about 84 million hectares of arable land, of which only 40% is cultivated. The country also has abundant water resources and a favorable climate for agriculture.
However, the sector faces many challenges, such as low productivity, poor infrastructure, inadequate financing, climate change, and insecurity.
The federal government has launched several initiatives to address these challenges and boost agricultural production and diversification. Some of these initiatives include the Anchor Borrowers Programme, which provides loans and inputs to smallholder farmers; the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative, which ensures the availability and affordability of fertilizer; and the National Livestock Transformation Plan, which aims to develop the livestock sub-sector.
The government has also signed several agreements with international organizations and countries, such as the African Development Bank, China, and Brazil, to support agricultural development in Nigeria.
With these efforts and the expected investment from John Deere, Nigeria hopes to achieve food security, create jobs, and reduce poverty through agriculture.
Source: Business Insider Africa
