First Lady  Unveils Agri360 Initiative To Train 5,000 Women, Youth In Farm Mechanisation

First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has endorsed the Agri360 Mechanization Training Initiative, which aims to equip 5,000 Nigerian women and young people with skills in agricultural mechanisation, digital agriculture, equipment operation and maintenance, entrepreneurship and agribusiness management.

The First Lady, represented by the wife of the Vice President, Hajiya Nana Shettima, spoke on Wednesday at the National Colloquium on the Role of Women and Youth in Advancing Agricultural Mechanization in Nigeria and the unveiling of the Agri360 initiative at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.

Tinubu described the programme as a strategic investment in the future of Nigeria’s agricultural sector, saying the country’s drive towards food security was gathering momentum. She said empowering women and youths with the right skills, tools and opportunities would enable them to play a greater role in modern agriculture.

According to her, mechanisation would improve productivity, reduce the physical burden associated with farming and make agriculture more attractive to young Nigerians. She added that opportunities created by mechanisation extended beyond farming to equipment operation and maintenance, agricultural processing, logistics, technology and other areas of the agricultural value chain.

The First Lady also noted that young Nigerians were increasingly embracing digital technologies, precision farming, artificial intelligence and drones to transform agriculture.

“They no longer see agriculture as subsistence; they see it as a huge opportunity, an enterprise and a career path to prosperity,” she said.

Tinubu further stressed the importance of expanding opportunities for women, noting that equipping them with skills and resources to earn incomes and grow businesses would generate benefits for families and communities.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, said mechanisation was essential to modernising agriculture by providing farmers with machinery and equipment that could ease production and reduce the physical strength required for farming.

Kyari said the Agri360 initiative would cover the agricultural process from land preparation to value addition, while improving farmers’ access to water and machinery. He said the government was moving from conversation to action by treating agriculture as an economic enterprise capable of transforming the lives of farmers.

The minister said the initiative was consistent with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which identifies agriculture as a major driver of economic growth, food security and employment.

The colloquium identified low levels of mechanisation, limited access to finance, inadequate skills and infrastructure, and the exclusion of women and young people as major challenges limiting agricultural productivity in Nigeria.

Goodwill messages were delivered by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi; Engineer Patricia Stan-Dioka of Mela-Chiyoma Pat Limited, a partner in the initiative; and Governors Alex Otti of Abia State, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State and Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, among other stakeholders.