Rwanda: The Federal Government has commended the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) for strengthening Nigeria’s agricultural mechanisation drive through skills development. Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, gave the commendation on the sidelines of the 2026 Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) in Rwanda. The forum focused on sustainable agricultural mechanisation and building resilient food systems across Africa.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Kyari said NADF had trained 4,000 tractor operators and mechanics to provide the skilled manpower needed to operate, maintain and sustain agricultural machinery deployed nationwide. He said the government was deploying 2,000 tractors, more than 9,000 agricultural implements, and spare parts through a service-provider model. The model is designed to expand farmers’ access to mechanisation while promoting efficiency, sustainability, and proper management of agricultural assets.
Kyari emphasized that training operators and mechanics was critical to ensuring that the government’s mechanisation programme translated into higher productivity, more jobs, and improved food security. He noted that sustainable mechanisation could not be achieved through equipment procurement and distribution alone, identifying financing, equipment utilisation, maintenance systems, skilled manpower, and accountability as essential to sustaining the programme.
The minister stated, “Our shared objective is not simply to put more tractors on the field but to build a sustainable system of finance, utilisation, maintenance, skills, and accountability around them.” He also highlighted government investments in irrigation, dry-season farming, climate-smart agriculture, and soil health to boost food production and strengthen resilience.
Kyari called for increased private-sector investment and stronger partnerships across the agricultural value chain, emphasizing the need for an enabling environment to attract capital into production, processing, technology, logistics, and markets. He stated that Nigeria’s growing population should be viewed as an economic opportunity, citing the country’s youthful workforce, expanding domestic market, and vast agricultural potential as key drivers.
He concluded by saying that unlocking this potential would require closer alignment of public investment, private capital, technology, infrastructure, and human capacity. “Building a resilient and competitive food system ultimately requires bringing land, water, technology, finance, and markets together within a coordinated framework capable of withstanding shocks, raising productivity, and delivering sustainable prosperity,” Kyari said.