Boosting Farm Productivity in Africa Through the Sustainable Use of Machines

Friday, October05, 2018 /02:10 PM / Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO)

New African Union-Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations (FAO) framework also aims to create new jobs while reducing reliance onmanual labor

FAO and the African Union today launched a newframework document that aims to increase agricultural efficiency and reducedrudgery by helping countries in Africa to develop strategies for sustainablefarm mechanization.

The Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Frameworkfor Africa (SAMA) is the result of discussions with policy makers from AUmember states, the AU Commission, FAO and key partners. It offers a detailedlook at the history of machinery in Africa, and points the way towardsaddressing challenges and creating new opportunities to assure the successfuladoption of mechanization.

"Doubling agricultural productivity andeliminating hunger and malnutrition in Africa by 2025 will be no more than amirage unless mechanization is accorded utmost importance," AUCommissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Josefa Sacko, said at thelaunch of the framework at FAO.

Remarkably more than three-fourths of farmers insub-Saharan Africa prepare their lands using only hand tools, a practice thatentails poor productivity, repels youth and is incompatible with thecontinent's Zero Hunger goal.

"Farmers in Africa should be able to use modernagricultural technology, both digital and mechanical, to boost the agriculturalsector in a sustainable way," said FAO Deputy Director-General MariaHelena Semedo.

The new framework identifies 10 priorities for AUmember states to include in their national plans, ranging from the need for astable supply of machine spare parts and innovative financing mechanisms, andthe importance of regional collaborations that allow for cross-border hiringservices.

The framework notes that successful nationalmechanization strategies will address key sustainability issues includinggender, youth, environmental protection and the overarching principle thatfarming must be profitable. It also emphasizes that these strategies shouldcover the entire agrifood value chain, including harvesting, handling,processing and food safety aspects, with an eye to reducing food losses,boosting rural employment and bolstering the links between farmers andconsumers.

Past, present andfuture

While tractors are used to prepare land on over 60percent of cultivated lands in Asia, the corresponding figure for Sub-SaharanAfrica is around 5 percent. Moreover, the use of draught animals in sub-SaharanAfrica is minimal outside of Ethiopia - due in considerable measure to thetsetse fly - so almost all the work is done manually.

One result is that many African farmers deploylow-yielding techniques and may prefer slash-and-burn methods.

Today smaller and more affordable machinery, such astwo-wheel tractors, are available hiring services using digital technologiesare proving popular around the continent, underscoring how the sharing ofcapital assets can be leveraged to achieve greater scale and access to moderntools.

What is to be done?

The framework notes that cross-border initiatives -for dealers, supply networks and tractor operators - can allow for viable scaleand greater utilization.

Another key consideration is farm profitability. Thiscan be fostered by giving access to markets, credit and land tenure a visiblerole in mechanization policies. The framework has been designed to contributeto the pledges made in the African Union's Malabo Declaration and Agenda 2063,and to do so in a way that is private-sector driven, environmentally smart,affordable and friendly to smallholder farmers.

Its implementation will require significantcontributions from other stakeholders, including public institutions andprivate actors such as the European Agricultural Machinery IndustriesAssociation (CEMA), which has just renewed its partnership with FAO to work onissues related to sustainable mechanization strategies in developing countries.

FAO and the AU's strategy acknowledges that"there is great potential for innovation in African agriculture" -notably with the proliferation of mobile technologies and access to informationand services - and that a significant effort in capacity development will haveto be made to rise to related challenges.

To that end, FAO and the International Maize and WheatImprovement Center (CIMMYT) have also published a training manual to help rollout more effective networks of access to small-scale mechanization services.