Origin Group, one of Nigeria’s biggest tractor operators, has marked 25 years of sustained involvement in Nigeria’s agricultural mechanisation space, outlining how its interventions have helped reduce farmers’ drudgery, improve productivity, expand access to modern equipment, and reshape the country’s food production landscape.
The anniversary was commemorated on Saturday at a media engagement attended by journalists and industry stakeholders, where the Executive Chairman of Origin Tech Group, Prince Samuel Joseph Samuel, reflected extensively on the company’s journey, challenges, and lessons from operating in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
Samuel said the company did not originally set out as an agricultural mechanisation firm, explaining that Origin’s early focus was on automobile trucks, pickups, and assembly. However, engagement with farmers across the country revealed a deeper structural problem within Nigeria’s agricultural system.
“Our dream and our initial plan was not to really do agro-organisation. We were more into automobile trucks, pickups, and assembly. That was our primary business,” he said. “But when we go around and look into the face of the farmers, we realise that it really supports our factory, and it helps us support them with tools like farming tools.”
He said this realisation led Origin Group to begin supporting farmers with tractors, gradually expanding into a full mechanisation and agri-services company over the years.
According to him, Origin Group became the first to introduce mini harvesters designed specifically for Nigeria’s smallholder farmers, helping them transition from manual tools such as hoes and cutlasses to mechanised solutions including self-propelled planters, harvesters, mechanised tillers, and hand-operated tractors.
“Anything that you do to reduce drudgery, you improve the health of the farmer, you improve the income of the farmer, and you improve the productivity of the rural space,” he said.
The executive said the Group’s mechanisation drive over the past 25 years has contributed to the creation of over 500,000 direct jobs in the agricultural value chain and empowered more than 1.8 million farmers through access to equipment and input loans.
He added that mechanisation support provided by Origin Group has significantly improved farm yields, noting that productivity has risen from as low as 0.1 tonnes per hectare to over four tonnes per hectare in some cases, while average farm sizes have expanded from about 0.5 hectares per farmer to more than 1.5 hectares.
Reflecting on national food output, he said Nigeria’s agricultural production has grown from about 50 million tonnes to over 80 million tonnes, with the potential to exceed 100 million metric tonnes if mechanisation is sustained and scaled.
Origin Group, he said, has also partnered with state governments to deepen mechanisation. He disclosed that the company supplied more than 1,000 pieces of equipment, including tractors, combined harvesters, sprayers, and hose reels, to the Niger State Government, alongside maintenance services and farmer training.
Samuel said training and after-sales support were as important as equipment supply, stressing that many mechanisation programmes fail because farmers are not taught how to use, maintain, or finance machinery sustainably.
“One, you provided a tractor, but you didn’t teach the farmer how to efficiently use the tractor. That’s a problem,” he said. “Two, you didn’t provide proper maintenance where he would get quick support. You even did that, but you didn’t provide sustainable spare parts.”
He explained that these gaps informed the launch of the company’s “Tractorise Nigeria” initiative in 2005, which aimed to provide tractor services to farming clusters across the country. This later evolved into “Tractor on the Go”, a digital platform designed to improve access, coordination, and efficiency.
However, he noted that mechanisation in Nigeria remains complex due to geography, sparse rural settlements, and high logistics costs.
“You pick a cluster and put a tractor in one location, and the farmers are five to 30 kilometres away from each other,” he said. “This farmer pays you 10 naira, but you spend N20 to move the tractor. Will you go? You will not go.”
The executive also spoke at length about why agriculture requires strong government intervention, citing long investment cycles, low rural infrastructure, and exposure to global trade pressures.
“Agriculture happens in the rural area where there is land, and the rural area also has fewer assets, less food, less power, and longer distances,” he said. “It requires the right kind of capital and a lot of government support.”
He warned that globalised agricultural trade has intensified competition, often putting Nigerian farmers at a disadvantage. “Why is a farmer in Russia able to produce at 200, and a farmer in Nigeria is producing at 1,000?” he asked. “That is where Origin Automobile comes in.”
According to him, the productivity gap is driven largely by mechanisation efficiency, fuel consumption, and equipment quality, noting that simply providing tractors without addressing efficiency does not solve the problem.
“You give them a tractor that uses 10 litres per hectare, and another man has a tractor that uses two litres per hectare. You didn’t give them the same thing,” he said.
Samuel said the company has also focused on human capital development through its Origin Eagle internship programme, launched in 2012, to train young engineers in tractor operations and maintenance. He said the programme is currently in its fifth cohort.
He added that in 2020, the company introduced the “All-in-One” programme, known as “Greener Hope” at the federal level, aimed at working with governments and large-scale farmers to sustainably develop food systems through full mechanisation.
“Today, if you partner with Origin Group, you don’t need to do anything. Just sign up for your decision to invest and allow Origin Automobile to make it happen for you,” he said.
Samuel said the company’s 25-year journey has shown that knowledge, experience, and understanding of local conditions are critical to building sustainable agricultural systems. “That is the biggest capital money cannot buy,” he said.
He reaffirmed Origin Group’s commitment to expanding full mechanisation to eliminate farmers’ drudgery, improve incomes, and strengthen Nigeria’s food security.
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