Why we ventured into agriculture —Origin Group Chairman

THE Chairman of Origin Group, Prince Samuel Joseph Samuel, has said the company’s decision to move from manufacturing to agriculture was informed by frequent interactions with farmers and visits to farming communities, which revealed the depth of challenges facing local producers, particularly the absence of modern tools and mechanised support.

Prince Samuel stated this at an interactive session with the media as part of activities marking the one-month-long 25th anniversary of Origin Automobile Works.

He stated that the realities of the nation’s economy and the multidimensional challenges farmers continued to grapple with made it imperative for the company to support farmers with the much-needed tools to be efficient on the farm.

“When we went around and looked into the faces of farmers, we realised that we needed to support them with tools. That’s how we transitioned into supporting farmers with tractors.

“From that moment, Origin Group began a gradual but deliberate expansion into agricultural mechanisation, eventually opening its factory in Nigeria to produce equipment tailored to local needs.

The initiative later crystallised into what became known as Tractorise Nigeria, launched around 2005 to provide tractor services to farmers across different regions,” he declared.

Prince Samuel explained that the programme aimed to reduce drudgery, improve farmer health, increase productivity, and raise rural incomes.

According to him, “Despite early successes, Tractorise Nigeria faced significant capital and operational challenges, including logistics, scale, and sustainability.

“We provided tractors to farmers and tractor groups who rehired them to others,” he said, noting that the company worked closely with organisations such as the Maize Association of Nigeria and tractor-owner cooperatives.

“In many cases, Origin Group extended equipment-based credit facilities to farming groups to ensure access to mechanisation.

“To further address operational gaps, the company later launched an indigenous platform known as Tractor on the Go (POG), which leveraged digital tools to improve coordination, deployment, and efficiency.”

However, Prince Samuel acknowledged that even this innovation revealed new complexities.

“If you put a tractor in one location and farmers are 5 to 30 kilometres apart, you may collect ₦10 from a farmer but spend ₦20 moving the tractor. So it is a very complex sector, he explained.

Further speaking, Prince Samuel announced that, “Over the years, Origin Group also invested in human capacity development through the Origin Eagle internship programme, launched around 2012 or 2013.

“The initiative exposes young Nigerians, many of whom have never operated agricultural machinery, to hands-on training, internships, and technical experience.

“We are running the fifth cohort now, and it is getting better,” even as he added that lessons from earlier cohorts are being applied to strengthen the programme.

Beyond company initiatives, Prince Samuel devoted significant attention to the structural challenges facing Nigerian agriculture.

He stressed that agriculture, more than most sectors, requires sustained government involvement because it is deeply rooted in rural areas with limited infrastructure, sparse populations, and long distances.

“Agriculture happens where there is land, and those places have less access, fewer roads, and less infrastructure. Capital does not like to flow easily to areas with long gestation periods,” he said.

The Chairman also described modern agriculture as a globalised business, where price differences across countries can instantly undermine local farmers.

According to him, cheap imports, whether legal or smuggled, can displace domestic producers who lack the productivity to compete.

Prince Samuel argued that while farmers in advanced economies rely on machine power to cultivate large areas with minimal labour, Nigerian farmers often depend heavily on manual labour, increasing costs and reducing competitiveness.

Even where tractors exist, he said, quality, fuel efficiency, maintenance, spare parts, and operator training vary widely, making simple tractor distribution insufficient.

“Giving a tractor that uses 10 litres per hectare is not the same as giving one that uses two litres. And if you don’t teach farmers how to use and maintain it, you have created another problem,” he noted.

Drawing on 25 years of practical experience, Origin Group, according to its chairman, has developed a deeper understanding of what works and what does not in agricultural mechanisation.

In his words: “This led to the creation in 2020 of a comprehensive framework known as All-in-One, designed to overhaul entire agricultural and food systems at the state or federal levels.

“At the federal level, the programme operated under the name Greener Hope, while states may adopt customised versions.”

The model, Prince Samuel said, allows governments or large investors to partner with Origin Group by providing capital and policy backing while the company handles execution.

“Once you decide to invest and make the needed capital available, allow Origin Automobile to make it happen for you,” he said.

A major strength of the company, he added, lies in its extensive data archive on Nigerian agriculture, spanning nearly a century.

“We can tell you which policies worked, which didn’t, and which can be moderated,” he said, adding that the company is increasingly using advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to simulate outcomes in crop production, soil management, and policy choices.

Prince Samuel also linked agricultural development to national security, arguing that economically productive farmlands are more likely to be protected and governed.

“If a community owns a farm that produces billions every year, will it allow terrorists to enter? No. Ungoverned spaces exist because there is no productive economic activity there,” he said.

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