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Goodwill Message from HC in National Colloquium on Women & Youth at Agri360 mechanization training

Goodwill message by HC at National Colloquium on Women & Youth

Salutations

Distinguished guests, agribusiness leaders and the dynamic Women and Youth of Nigeria,

Namaste and Good Day!

It gives me great pleasure to convey a goodwill message on this important initiative to promote Women and Youth involvement in Agricultural Mechanization and Agribusiness.

Nigeria and India are both blessed with fertile land, hardworking farmers, and a young population. Agriculture is not just our past, it is our future. In India, we have seen first-hand how mechanization transforms lives. When a small tractor, a harvester, a solar dryer, or a cold-storage unit reaches a village, it does not just increase yield, it gives dignity, income, and time back to women and youth. It turns subsistence into business. Nigeria has immense potential. With over 70 million hectares of arable land and 40% of your population being young people, agriculture can become your biggest employer and exporter. But this will happen only when we bring the youth back to the farm with technology, and empower women who are already 45% of your agricultural workforce. Thereby, increasing their access to machinery, finance and markets.

India is ready to be your partner in this journey by providing affordable mechanization. India is the world's largest manufacturer of tractors and farm implements. Our small and medium tractors, power tillers, planters, and threshers are designed for smallholder farms like those in Nigeria. These are ideal for women-led cooperatives and youth startups. Nigeria is one of the prime importers of Indian farming equipment. Our Indian companies like Mahindra, Sonalika are already operating in Nigeria for over a decade and facilitating tractors and other agri-machinery suitable for the Nigerian conditions.

India has always extended full support to Nigeria through its capacity building programs, agricultural partnerships and technical cooperation. Under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program, every year 250 fully sponsored slots are offered, which includes courses on agriculture and skill development.  Through ITEC and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), we can train Nigerian women and youth in tractor operation, repair, precision farming, and agri-drone technology.

India can share about its agribusiness models such as Amul's women-led dairy cooperative and Self-Help Groups running food processing units. We can adapt these models for cassava, rice, maize and horticulture value chains in Nigeria.

Today, I urge the Women and Youth of Nigeria to see agriculture not as labour, but as agribusiness. Form cooperatives, learn to operate one machine, and you will employ ten others. Let us create a dedicated India-Nigeria Women and Youth in Agri-Mechanization Corridor with easier import norms, local assembly, and joint certification.

Let us together ensure that the next tractor in a Nigerian farm is driven by a young Nigerian woman. Because when women and youth lead agriculture, nations become food secure.

I wish this initiative great success and assure you of the full support of the High Commission of India.

Thank you

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