Fulfilling Nigeria’s Indigenous Quest For Agricultural Revolution

The information from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates that lots of intentional work need to be done in the country to revamp agriculture, and it should come in the form of employing farm mechanization and cutting-edge technologies to make agriculture acceptable and attractive especially to the youth-the biggest workforce.

According to the 2022 NBS report, Nigeria has a total agricultural land area of 70.8 million hectares of land of which 34 million hectares are arable land and 30.3 million hectares used for meadows and pastures. However, each year, only 6.5 million hectares of Nigeria’s agricultural land are used for permanent crops by 70 per cent of Nigerian households engaged in farming.

Despite agriculture’s critical role in our economy, Nigeria has struggled to feed itself as agricultural productivity remains low and food production has not kept pace with the country’s rapidly growing population. Findings show that insecurity, climate change and outdated farming practices have hampered progress in this sector. The place of agriculture in transforming Nigeria into a thriving and sustainable economy that guarantees food for everyone cannot be overemphasized.

Against this background, the Federal Government approved that the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) should establish Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Development Institute (AMEDI) one in each geo-political zone of the country to bring about mechanized farming as well as modern farming techniques.

The institute has a clear mandate to invent and produce tools, systems, equipment and machinery for cultivation, planting, weeding, harvesting, processing, and preservation of food crops through backwards integration and domestication of foreign technologies in agriculture to be handled by well-trained staff of NASENI.

Currently, AMEDI is designed to solve agricultural and agro-allied technology challenges by injecting into the system the state-of-the-Art technological innovations to bring about desired food security in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal 2 which addresses Zero Hunger and in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first item on his Renewed Hope Agenda, which is Food Security.

These AMEDIs, which are divisions of NASENI, will serve as the cradle for nurturing professional engineers and scientists proficient in the design and manufacturing of diverse agricultural machinery and equipment. The AMEDIs will teach farmers not only mechanized farming but modern farming techniques using technology for enhanced yields per hectare of farmland toward achieving bumper harvests and profitability.

AMEDI Lafia: Sited on 21-hectare farmland strategically sandwiched between the College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Lafia and the Faculty of Agriculture, Nasarawa State University, AMEDI was established two years ago to reduce importation and reliance on foreign technologies for agricultural implements and to make Nigeria a hub and supplier of agro-allied technologies, equipment and machinery for the development of the agriculture sector.

AMEDI Lafia is addressing the needs of states in the North-Central geo-political zone in the areas of Agroecology and sustainable agricultural practices as it employs latest technologies in food production such as Soilless (Hydroponics) farming on greenhouses, climate smart agriculture to plant food crops, and Drip Irrigation to support and ensure year-round bumper harvests.  Its multi-span greenhouses-one of the best in Africa, has a wet wall fitted to continuously ensure cooling, regardless of the temperature of the environment where the greenhouses are stationed.

AMEDI Lafia apart from partnering with an indigenous tractor manufacturing company in Nigeria, Bobtrack Tractors Ltd., and the Nasarawa State Government to assemble agricultural tractors and other farm implements in the Institute, is working with Italy-based De Lorenzo Company to install the latest Industry 4.0 smart factories and agricultural laboratories that would be used to carry out research and development (R&D) test and process soil and crops, etc that would lead to enhanced crop production and food security.

AMEDI Birnin Kebbi-Selected for its agrarian nature to cater for the yearnings of North-Western states, AMEDI Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State is sited on a 10-hectare land mass donated by Kebbi State government to support the zone’s agricultural arable land in rice production and other farm produces.

Kebbi State got the nod of the Federal Government due to its vast arable land in rice production and other farm produce among the seven states of the North West geopolitical zone. The project which is nearing completion, when commissioned will bolster food production and cultivate a new generation of skilled agricultural practitioners.

AMEDI Obudu – Located in the Obudu, Cross River State, an agro-industrial zone of South-South on a 24 hectare land, AMEDI Obudu upon completion would be critical in the transformation of the State into a business hub and will deepen the availability of skilled manpower to match the influx of companies and organisations that have indicated interest to do business in the state.

AMEDI Obudu like other AMEDIs will emerge as the centre of excellence in agricultural machinery and equipment design to enable Nigeria to scale new heights and become the paradise for agricultural produce and a hub for agro-allied technologies.  It will also host a demonstration farm which would serve as a pilot showcasing new farming methods using modern techniques in agricultural processing, innovation and technologies and a means of providing extension services for Nigerian farmers and agro-allied industries in the country.

In fact, its demonstration farm is poised to be used for production of Turmeric for export purposes in line with Nigeria’s changing fortune as a nation on the tip of industrialization.  The country is known to be the 30th largest GDP in the world, with only 10 per cent being contributed by value-added manufacturing Industry with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) contributing a meagre 6.21 per cent to exports.

AMEDI Aboh-Mbaise: Another exciting place where Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Development Institute (AMEDI) is sited is Aboh Mbaise, Imo State (South-East),  which will address food security challenge particularly in this region, paving way for a more robust agro-allied industries, agro-processing manufacturing and sustainable soilless-based farming system, leveraging on the region’s choice agricultural needs.

Also, in the scheme of things is Osun State, South-West Nigeria, where AMEDI is prepared to be situated. This state, which has been canvassing for the Institute based on its agrarian records will have a unique access to machines needed to revamp the agricultural sector, especially through mechanization.

The declaration of State of Emergency on food security on July 13, 2023 by President Tinubu was the signal that NASENI needed to fast track its AMEDI projects. Today, almost all the AMEDI projects are at advanced stages of completion and many of them would be commissioned between 2025 and 2026. AMEDI projects will create thousands of direct and indirect jobs for unemployed Nigerian youths.

Moreover, in line with NASENI’s Strategic Launchpad, ‘Infinite Possibilities: Economic Transformation through Advancement in Technology Transfer and Adaptations’, AMEDI Institutes are identified as Centres of Excellence in the production of agricultural machinery and equipment designed to enable Nigeria to scale new heights and become the paradise for agricultural produce and a hub for agro-allied technologies.

Demonstration farms, available in all AMEDI Institutes are a pilot specimen to showcase new farming methods, using modern techniques in agricultural processing, innovation and technologies and a means of providing extension services for Nigerian farmers and agro-allied industries in the country.

It is hoped that the coming of AMEDI located in strategic places in the country would ensure that Nigeria reduces importation and reliance on foreign technologies for agricultural implements and also conserve foreign exchange by making the country a hub and supplier of agro-allied technologies, equipment and machinery for the development of the agriculture sector, thus fulfilling President Tinubu-led administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda which has put agricultural sector on the front burner.

President Tinubu having demonstrated a strong political will to change the narrative has made agriculture one of the topmost priorities of his administration through creation of various initiatives and supports by the government. The efforts were capped with the appointment of a youthful Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive officer of NASENI, Khalil Suleiman Halilu for greater efficiency. Halilu had since assumed office in September 2023. He, being on the Agency’s driver seat is determined to complete all construction works on the Agency’s agriculture institutes with a determination to infuse renewable energy projects to fast track NASENI’s agricultural initiatives.