IITA, in partnership with the Innovation Lab for Policy Leadership in Agriculture and Food Security (PiLAF) et Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA), organized a one-day workshop with the theme, “Enhancing the Status of Agricultural Equipment Fabrication for Food Security in Oyo State”. The workshop aimed to address the need for modern agricultural equipment manufacturers to strategically meet the demands of partners, investors, and farmers. It also targeted assessing various types of agricultural equipment fabricated domestically and understanding interventions required for quality and optimum equipment fabrication.
The workshop was held on 17 May at the IITA headquarters in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, and had 118 participants. These attendees included agricultural equipment fabricators, farmers, academia, and private sector investors.
In his welcome address, IITA Agribusiness and Mechanization Unit Head Debo Akande noted that the Institute’s mechanization unit, under the Partnerships for Delivery (P4D) directorate, is moving towards a business-oriented mechanization approach to drive the involvement of the private sector. He further noted that the Oyo State government is investing in an agricultural system that encourages the private sector to invest in agriculture, including the local fabrication of agricultural equipment for mechanized agriculture.
In a keynote address, the Director of the IITA Development and Delivery Office, Alfred Dixon, noted that Africa needs to develop its own agricultural machines industry by fabricating locally appropriate equipment that small-scale farmers can afford.
One of the Principal Coordinators of PiLAF, Professor Adegbenga Adekoya, said: “Agricultural mechanization should be given a major space in the national agricultural budget for agriculture to thrive.”
Included in a panel discussion were Engr Kolawole Adeniji of Niji Group, Dr Michael Odeniyi of the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM), Dr Mobolaji Omobowale of the University of Ibadan (UI), and IITA Post-Harvest Specialist Peter Kolawole. They focused on the status of agricultural fabrication in Nigeria, particularly in Oyo State. They also talked about the technicalities around the choice of materials, pricing, and sustainability of agro-equipment fabrication. They discussed the need for drudgery-reducing equipment in Nigerian agriculture and the significance of production quality in enhancing agricultural equipment fabrication.
The session also premised the inauguration of coordinators of fabricators across the seven zones in Oyo State as pioneers and representatives. One of the newly inducted coordinators representing Oyo zone, Olusola Fasina, appreciated the organizers but lamented that erratic power supply, lack of funds, price and quality of fabrication materials, and unavailability of steel rolling company were some of the challenges faced by fabricators.
Prof. Dave Tschirley of Michigan State University (MSU), in his goodwill message, expressed satisfaction with the workshop and implored all stakeholders to expedite actions on the power supply, the size and quality of materials for fabrication, female-friendly equipment, formulation of policy, and unification of technology as some of the challenges facing fabricators in the State.
Stakeholders called for capacity strengthening for Nigerian fabricators and sought government support to access equipment that supports precision fabrication. Nigeria fabricators are good, but poor finishing does enable them to compete favorably globally, partly due to a lack of access to good raw materials for fabrication. Participants agreed that the fabricators and relevant stakeholders reconvene for further conversations.
Contributed by Bolanle Olorode
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