Minister to launch pay-as-you-go tractor services

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has disclosed it will unfold a pay-as-you-go tractor service this week.

A statement from the ministry said the minister, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, would inaugurate the service on Thursday, April 28, 2022.

Tagged ‘Hello Tractor innovative,’ the tractor financing service is aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and job creation.

The launch, scheduled to hold in Abuja, will follow an earlier soft launch, which witnessed the presentation of seven tractors to beneficiaries across three locations in Nasarrawa and Enugu states, as well as Abuja.

The ministry said the tractor financing is an innovation to support smallholder mechanisation, food security and rural entrepreneurship in the country, and it is facilitated by Hello Tractor, in partnership with Heifer International.

Hello Tractor is an agricultural technology and social enterprise company with the vision to transform the agricultural ecosystem in Africa by creating efficiencies that generate inclusive growth, reduce poverty and build stronger and stable economies.

Through technology, the company connects tractor owners to smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa through a farm equipment sharing application that bridges the gap between traditional farming and more technologically advanced approaches.

Heifer International, a non-profit organisation on a mission to end global hunger and poverty, is providing funding for the project through its AyuTe Africa Challenge Competition platform as part of its strategic goal of assisting over one million farmers in Africa reach a sustainable living income by year 2030.

The innovative PAYG product will provide agro-entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers access to tractor services at a very affordable rate through asset financing, to cultivate large expanse of their farmlands, thus driving increased productivity and income, sustainable employment, food security and positive impacts on farmers’ means of livelihood.

Expected at the event are the CEO of Heifer International, Pierre Ferrari, Chairman and CEO of Hello Tractor, Jehiel Oliver, a member of the Board of Directors of Heifer International, Randi Hedin and Heifer’s Senior Vice President, Africa Programs, Adesuwa Ifedi.

Others are state commissioners of agriculture, key government functionaries and top media executives as the event showcases agro-entrepreneurs, who have been provided with accessible financing under a pay-as-you-go structure.