Ibrahim Danladi farms four hectares of maize and soybean outside Lafia. Each year, his season depends on a few days he cannot choose: the point at which the first rains soften the ground enough to plough.
Last year those rains came nearly two weeks early. By the time Ibrahim reached the tractor owner he usually uses, the machine was already booked for the rest of the week.
Everybody calls the same man on the same morning. If you are not first, you wait.
He spent the next four days making calls, asking relatives in nearby villages who had a machine and who might be free. He eventually found an operator from another LGA, at a higher price and with a late start.
Planting late cost him. He estimates his maize yield was down by a quarter compared with the season before.
What Ibrahim described is common across the farmers our team spoke to. Most rely on one or two contacts. When those fall through, there is no simple way to see which machines are nearby and available.
I do not need to own a tractor. I need to know one will come.
That certainty is what booking through an agent is meant to provide: a request made ahead of time, matched to a machine in the area, and confirmed before the rains decide the timetable.
