By Rasheeda Hamidu
The Federal Government has unveiled the AGRI360 Mechanisation Training Initiative to equip 5,000 women and young Nigerians with skills needed to participate in modern, technology-driven agriculture.
The initiative was unveiled on Wednesday, at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja, during the National Colloquium on the Role of Women and Youth in Advancing Agricultural Mechanisation in Nigeria.
Organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in collaboration with Mela-Chiyoma Pat Limited, the three-year programme will train participants in agricultural mechanisation, digital agriculture, equipment operation and maintenance, entrepreneurship and agribusiness management.
Representing First Lady Oluremi Tinubu at the event, Hajiya Nana Shettima said the initiative was a strategic investment in Nigeria’s agricultural future, particularly by giving women and young people the skills and tools to participate more meaningfully in the sector.
She said access to these opportunities would help women build businesses and earn incomes, while making agriculture more attractive to young Nigerians.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the government’s focus was to connect farmers with the machinery and skills required to improve production and move beyond reliance on manual labour.
“For us at the ministry, our responsibility is to build profound ambition by connecting the household to the farm, the farm to the machine and machines to skills,” Kyari said.
He added that mechanisation should extend beyond land preparation and planting to large-scale production and value addition, while stressing the importance of combining machinery with irrigation and water management to support farming beyond the rainy season.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said the colloquium was an opportunity to develop practical solutions that would increase women and youth participation in agricultural mechanisation.
Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Marcus Olaniyi Ogunbiyi, said AGRI360 was designed to go beyond training by creating opportunities for participants to work as machinery operators, technicians, mechanics, drone operators, precision-agriculture specialists, software developers and fabricators.
The initiative will also involve private-sector partners, with Captain Tractors India announcing plans to deploy 50 tractors to each state and train young Nigerians in engineering and mechanics to operate and maintain the equipment.
The push comes against a backdrop of low mechanisation, limited access to finance and skills, infrastructure gaps and the unequal participation of women and young people in Nigeria’s agricultural machinery ecosystem.
With agriculture increasingly expected to provide food, jobs and opportunities for a growing population, the success of AGRI360 will depend on whether the training translates into accessible machinery, viable businesses and sustained employment for its beneficiaries.
For NatureNews, the initiative highlights the growing need to make agricultural technology and mechanisation more accessible while ensuring that women and young people are included in Nigeria’s drive towards more productive and sustainable food systems.
