Stakeholders have raised concerns over Nigeria’s severe tractor shortage, warning that the country’s low mechanization levels pose a major threat to food security.

At the State of Mechanization Ecosystem in Nigeria stakeholder forum event held in Abuja, the Chief Executive Officer of TracTrac Mechanization, Godwin Ohuruogu, stressed the scale of the challenge. He noted that Nigeria currently has “about six tractors for every 10,000 hectares of land,” far below the needs of farmers.

He projected that “in the next three to four years” the country should target “up to 20 tractors for every hectare,” a goal he believes “will go a long way in improving the mechanization situation currently.”

He explained that the sector requires significant financing, estimating that “whatever form of investment can add about 250,000 tractors into the ecosystem, that will be the investment that we need. Whether it’s 50 million per tractor or 55 million per tractor. But we need to have at least 250,000 tractors in the space in the next three to five years.”

He added that improving the sector should not be left entirely to government initiatives but requires the active involvement of a wider group of stakeholders.

“For us to actually change the mechanization situation in Nigeria, it has to go beyond the government,” he said.