The exhibition, put together by Hephzibah Nigeria Limited, The Guardian learnt, will give global key players in the agricultural mechanisation space opportunity to collaborate and help Nigerian farmers leverage technology for food production.
At the event themed: ‘Redefining Agricultural Mechanisation to Enhance Food Security and Boost Agribusiness,’ Obasanjo, a farmer, is expected to deliver a keynote address.
The World Bank, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), 36 state governments and Tractor Owners and Hiring Facilities Association of Nigeria (TOHFAN), among others, are expected at the exhibition.
Addressing journalists at a press conference in Abuja, the convener of the exhibition, Paul Hephzibah, said the programme would address the gap between peasant and mechanised farmers.
He noted that the exhibition would showcase heavy and light agricultural equipment, along with their manufacturers, suppliers and financiers.
According to him, the exhibition is designed to connect equipment manufacturers with vendors, mechanisation services providers, financial institutions, policymakers, key government officials and other stakeholders in the agribusiness value chain.
He lamented that Nigeria had not been able to attain food sufficiency because of a lack of government funding for mechanised farming.
“Despite decades of immense expenditure and investment in agriculture, in terms of funding and inputs distribution by the federal and state governments, international agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), the average Nigerian farmer remains an indigent serf, regarded by today’s youths as a dreadful anachronism.
“Agricultural industry, though rich and potentially endowed with the capacity to employ a large number of unemployed youths have been paralysed through carelessness and lack of right approach,” he added.
