The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has mapped out strategies to revolutionize agriculture in Nigeria with its vast initiative on irrigation in various parts of the country.
This move is predicated on the Agency’s drive to improve agriculture and make it more lucrative and attractive to the younger generation to enable them build careers in the sector that will not only ensure productivity but food security as well as job creation and promotion of exports.
This initiative has crystallized into the bold steps being taken by the Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, who has demonstrated unrivalled commitment to utilize available lands in the country to put mechanized farming methods in place by supporting farming communities in the country with all modern equipment needed.
This emphasizes the centrality of the agricultural sector to the success of the eight socio-economic recovery programmes outlined in the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Recently, the NASENI boss gave a hint about the intention of the agency to launch the “Irrigate Nigeria” project, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at enhancing mechanized farming and enabling at least three farming cycles annually.
Speaking on Kakaaki the African Voice, a live programme on African Independent Television (AIT), in Abuja on January 20, 2025, the NASENI boss outlined the project’s goals, and highlighted its potential to transform Nigerian agriculture by enabling farmers to achieve three harvests yearly.
This brilliant idea is aimed to change dependency on the traditional single-season harvest. As a matter of fact, if the country succeeds in bringing about three harvest cycles in a year, the boost in food production will be immense as this will curb the scourge of food insecurity in the country, as well as increase the technique for dry-season farming.
In practical terms, NASENI has already tested this approach at its Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Development Institute (AMEDI) greenhouse in Lafia, Nasarawa State and plans to replicate it nationwide.
The NASENI EVC/CEO has also expressed willingness to collaborate with the Nasarawa state government and Bobtrack Tractors, a division of Saint Bob Motors Limited, to initiate the manufacturing and assembly of tractors in the North-Central region, as the state is endowed with fertile land.
The project also focuses on promoting the use of locally made tools for farming and post-harvest processing, in addition to collaborating with PT Saputra Global Harvest of Indonesia to establish coal-based fertilizer plants in Nigeria (currently under construction) as well as partnering with the Czech Republic to assemble affordable mini tractors, to ensure accessibility for small-scale farmers who cannot afford large tractors.
Taking the initiative further, NASENI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tiamin Rice Limited with the aim of revolutionizing rice farming under NASENI’s strategy of collaborating with local and international companies. The agreement with Tiamin Rice Limited is targeted at implementing advanced irrigation solutions that will benefit Nigerian farmers by improving both water use efficiency and crop productivity and sustainability with utilization of NASENI’s solar-powered smart irrigation system.
Moreover, the Agency’s AMEDI initiative approved by the Federal Government for six geo-political zones of the country, has been one of the flagship programmes which NASENI put in place to ensure agricultural mechanization and food security nationwide.
One of the most promising AMEDI initiatives is that of Kebbi State in North-west Nigeria, a state that last year handed over ten hectares of land to the Agency to commence the construction of AMEDI institution. 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 Kebbi State government expressed enormous gratitude to the Federal Government for siting the Institute in the state saying it will accelerate development and create job opportunities for the teeming youths in the state. Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people which needs to be fed and it is only through self-sufficiency in agriculture especially rice farming that the nation can feed its growing population and ensure it becomes a net exporter of rice to boost foreign exchange inflow.
The progressive initiatives from NASENI have shown the prospect of renewed hope that will change the fortunes of the country in that direction. The Agency is unrelenting as it is leveraging its combined technical capabilities and resources for the development of agro-allied industries, climate change mitigation and smart solar irrigation for dry-season farming.
During a meeting held on November 6, 2023, in Abuja, NASENI and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, agreed on the need to collaborate to boost agriculture through the adoption of technology transfer. And to enhance these efforts, NASENI is recruiting technical expertise, technologies, and international partnerships to make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production, food processing and exports.
Also, NASENI is currently working with MECA Africa, a company where it has substantial equity holding, to refurbish over 50,000 broken tractors nationwide as part of a presidential initiative to encourage large-scale land cultivation especially rice farming.
The Agency has secured local and international technical partners to work on projects that include mass-production of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for insecticide spraying over massive farmlands, introducing solar-powered water irrigation to enhance both wet and dry season farming, and adding value to the agro-allied value chain.
According to NASENI, the collaboration plans also encompass crop traceability, rice straw project, climate change mitigation through scientific and technological research and the reduction of food imports. “We are undertaking development activities in agriculture from production to commercialization.
The main objective is how we can add value to our agricultural produce or raw materials before they are consumed or exported. We seek the ministry’s cooperation to transfer, adapt and commercialise foreign technologies brought into the country” Halilu stated.
Recall that NASENI participated in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Forum in China in 2023, which opened opportunities for more investments in the agricultural sector as well as other bilateral agreements that has raked in investments, a move that is playing a pivotal role in the transformation of the agricultural sector and the achievement of the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of the Federal Government.
NASENI pledges to continue to keep the public updated on the progress of this agricultural transformational journey, which is a direct manifestation of the Agency’s 3C principles of Collaboration, Creation and Commercialization.
