Sustainable agricultural mechanization: a framework for Africa

Agriculture is crucial to Africa’s development, but the sector is performing well below its potential. Today, about 60 percent of Africa’s population depends on agriculture for jobs and livelihoods, yet its contribution to the gross domestic product was a paltry 21 percent in 2016. While Africa has the highest area of uncultivated arable land (202 million ha) in the world, which is about 50 percent of the global total, its productivity lags far behind other developing regions. Yieldsare only 56 percent of the international average (AfDB, 2016; Jerome, 2017). Crop yields must increase substantially over the coming decades to keep pace with food demand driven by population growth and rapid urbanization in Africa. Mechanization directly and indirectly affects yield gap: it reduces both harvest and post-harvest losses and is the low-hanging fruit that can bridge the gap between actual and potential yield in Africa. Reducing the yield gap is essential if Africa is to reach its goal of Zero Hunger by 2025. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), agricultural mechanization in Africa is still at the first stage: “power substitution”. This stage is characterized by the replacement of animate power with mechanical power from internal combustion engines or electric motors to perform energy-intensive tasks, such as primary land tillage and grain milling. This framework presents the priority elements for national strategies for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa (SAMA). The analysis presented in Chapters 2 and 3 calls for a specific approach, involving learning from other parts of the world where significant transformation of the agricultural mechanization sector has already occurred within a three-to-four decade time frame, and developing policies and programmes to realize Africa’s aspirations of Zero Hunger by 2025. This approach entails the identification and prioritization of relevant and interrelated elements to help countries develop strategies and practical development plans that create synergies in line with their agricultural transformation plans and realize Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa. Given the unique characteristics of each country and the diverse needs of Africa due to the ecological heterogeneity and the wide range of farm sizes, the framework avoids being prescriptive. Instead, it provides ten interrelated principles/elements to guide agricultural mechanization efforts.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	1423211775601 Kormawa, P. (ed.), 184100 FAO, Rome (Italy) eng, 187396 Mrema, G. (ed.), 1423211763759 Mhlanga, N. (ed.), 1423211775602 Fynn, M.K., 1423211763215 Kienzle, J. (ed.), 1423211774291 Mpagalile, J. (ed.), (ed.), 1423211775600 African Union Commission, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) eng
Format:	Texto biblioteca
Language:	eng
Published:	Bangkok (Thailand) FAO 2014
Subjects:	agricultural development, agricultural mechanization, family farms, sustainable agriculture, agricultural innovation systems, technology transfer, financing,
Online Access:	http://www.fao.org/3/CA1136EN/ca1136en.pdf
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