To promote food security in Nigeria, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the procurement of 2,000 tractors, 4,000 disc ploughs, and 1,200 tractor trailers, among other equipment, under the National Agricultural Mechanization Programme (NAMP).
In a statement on Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, shared the outcomes of the FEC meeting in Abuja on X. He noted that the equipment will be supplied by DMCC, a firm that also plans to establish assembly plants for some of the equipment within the country.
He said, “Procurement of 2000 tractors, 4000 disc ploughs, 1000 disc ridges, 1200 tractor trailers and assorted spare parts. The items to be supplied are for the National Agricultural Mechanization Programme(NAMP) to strengthen national food security.
“Astride DMCC, which has done a similar job in Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa and Togo, will supply all the equipment and will also set up a plant to assemble the machinery, in the second stage of the contract.”
Additionally, the federal government announced plans to engage stakeholders in establishing a Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP) for commodities, boost production, particularly among smallholder farmers for the 2024/2025 farming season, and promote the production of fortified food commodities, among other initiatives.
This development comes as Nigeria faces a food security crisis, with food inflation at 40.5 percent and households struggling to provide for their families nationwide.
The price of staple foods, especially grains, has more than doubled in the past year.
Recently, the federal government revealed plans to distribute ₦50,000 to 100,000 households across the country’s 36 states for three months and to purchase food items worth ₦155 billion for distribution nationwide.