By Ahmed Ahmed
The Bank of Agriculture (BoA) is proposing a nationwide constituency-based mechanisation programme aimed at expanding large-scale farming, improving food production and strengthening rural economic activity across Nigeria.
The proposal, recently presented in Abuja by Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, Mr. Ayo Sotinriade, seeks collaboration with members of the House of Representatives to deploy tractors and establish agricultural service hubs across all 360 federal constituencies.
The initiative reflects growing concern within government and agricultural institutions over low mechanisation levels, weak rural productivity and the continuing dependence on subsistence farming despite rising food demand and inflationary pressure.
According to Sotinriade, the programme is designed to support a transition from small-scale manual farming toward more structured mechanised agriculture capable of increasing productivity, improving yields and strengthening food security.
Under the proposed framework, lawmakers would contribute 60 per cent of the cost of tractors deployed within their constituencies, while designated land would be provided to establish mechanised farming hubs and tractor booking services.
“After purchasing the tractor, members will provide fenced land, and we will create a farming hub and a tractor booking service,” Sotinriade stated.
According to him, the hubs would also provide farmers with access to inputs, irrigation services, commodity aggregation, extension support and banking services.
He added that the programme is expected to improve productivity to more than two tonnes per hectare while enabling a single tractor to cultivate up to 600 hectares annually.
The proposal forms part of broader efforts by the Federal Government to strengthen agricultural financing, mechanisation and risk management within Nigeria’s food production system.
Authorities have increasingly linked low agricultural productivity to insecurity, rising rural poverty, weak access to financing and limited mechanisation infrastructure.
Sotinriade stated that irrigation services under the initiative could also allow farmers to cultivate crops multiple times within a year, potentially increasing output and income levels across farming communities.
“We are thinking of this initiative as an enhancer, a catalyst to solving poverty and taking people off the social register,” he said.
The Bank of Agriculture’s proposal comes amid wider agricultural financing reforms introduced by the Federal Government and related institutions.
Government recently approved a N250 billion facility for the Bank of Agriculture to provide single-digit interest loans to smallholder farmers as part of broader food security interventions.
In parallel, agencies such as the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service have also expanded programmes aimed at improving agricultural financing, insurance coverage and market access.
The Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation disclosed that it provided risk coverage valued at N700 billion to more than 199,000 farmers over the past two years.
The Bank of Agriculture has additionally secured a $1 billion intervention fund in partnership with Afreximbank to support smallholder farming and strengthen agricultural market integration.
The proposed constituency mechanisation programme is expected to complement those initiatives by expanding access to farming equipment and structured agricultural services across rural communities.
The programme may also carry wider economic implications if implemented at scale, particularly as Nigeria continues to confront rising food prices, rural unemployment and pressure on domestic agricultural supply chains.
