22 minute read
Equipment
The delivery of Case IH tractors in Ethiopia aims to enhance productivity and improve the quality of life for people working on farms.
Case IH tractor delivery in Ethiopia
The tractors provide all the power needed for land preparation, cultivation, sowing and haulage, while being economical on fuel and intuitive to drive.
MORE THAN 40 CASE IH Maxxum tractors were delivered to EthioLease in Ethiopia, during April 2020, as part of a programme to increase access to agricultural machinery for the country’s farmers.
EthioLease is a subsidiary of Africa Asset Finance Company Inc. (AAFC) and was formed to address equipment shortages in Ethiopia by providing financing and leasing services for capital goods across multiple sectors including agriculture.
This Case IH tractor delivery was part of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture , Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) and EthioLease, signed in February this year.
As Ethiopia strives to increase the mechanisation of its agriculture industry, smallholder farmers who are unable to purchase their own equipment will now have access to these tractors via ATA farmers’ mechanisation centres.
The delivery included 44 Maxxum 125 tractors featuring 126 hp (93 kW) rated engines, in a combination of cab and ROPS configurations. Designed for pure functionality, these Maxxum 125 tractors provide all the power needed for land preparation, cultivation, sowing and haulage, while being economical on fuel and intuitive to drive.
With an estimated population of 105 million, Ethiopia must improve its agricultural productivity to sustainably feed its people.
“We are very proud to supply the first of a large number of tractors to Ethiopian farmers through EthioLease,” said Nardos Admasu, Case IH Business Manager for Ethiopia.
“Over the last two years, Case IH has
sold nearly 200 tractors in Ethiopia, increasing visibility of the brand and gaining the trust of the many farmers who are using our machinery,” Admasu said.
“We believe the farmers leasing through EthioLease will benefit greatly from access to our machinery. “Our official distributor in Ethiopia, Wereta International Business PLC, will provide spare parts, expert service both in their workshop and in the customers’ fields, as well as operator training, ensuring that these Case IH Maxxum tractors remain productive in the field for many years to come,” Admasu added.
“EthioLease provides a valuable service, bridging the gap between local communities striving for hard currency and global agricultural equipment brands such as Case IH. Just as we are sure Ethiopian farmers will be happy to drive our Maxxum tractors, we are thrilled to be able to deliver our quality machinery to the people who need it.” h
Innovations are bringing in transformative change in agriculture, leading to increased productivity and crop yields.
Boosting harvesting technology
Innovations in harvesting machinery and equipment are adding to agricultural productivity and improved performance.
AS THE GLOBAL pandemic continues to transform the way the world operates, the agricultural sector is adapting in varying ways.
In Africa, the combination of the pandemic with desert locusts outbreaks, drought and flood extremes due to climate change as well as increasing food importation costs continue to add to the challenges.
While governments across the continent have several initiatives to prevent an impending food crisis, private sector organisations are bringing in innovative products and technological advances.
Some initiatives
Several efforts are seen in many parts of the continent, to provide a boost to mechanisation and technology use.
For instance, the Nigerian government approved a loan facility of US$1.2bn to finance the mechanisation of agriculture in the country, according to Sabo Nanono, minister of agriculture and rural development. In what he called a “major revolution in the agriculture sector that we have never seen before,” Nanono said that the planned mechanisation would entail the establishment of tractor serving centres in 632 local governments in the country and involve 140 processing plants.
In Zimbabwe, there is increasing awareness that measures to revitalise the agricultural sector, including increasing the area under production are pivotal to achieve food self-sufficiency and reduce imports. Tractors, combine harvesters and other pieces of agricultural equipment were delivered to Zimbabwe in April this year, as part of an attempt to mechanise and modernise the farming industry.
Innovations in harvesting machinery and equipment are adding to agricultural productivity and improved performance in Africa and beyond:
New Holland Agriculture
The TC5 Series combine harvester are providing the ideal solution for Ethiopian farmers, through the multi-crop harvesting capability ensures a high performance and productivity in all conditions when harvesting a variety of crops.The rotary separator feature ensures the best harvesting result with its high separation capability in wet conditions.
The Braud 9090X Olive harvester is helping with mechanised harvesting.
New Holland Agriculture’s multipurpose, self-propelled Forage Harvester, can be equipped with a variety of headers – maize, direct-cut and pick-up headers.
Case IH
THE AXIAL-FLOW 4088 combine harvester was put through field trials in Kenya using wheat, barley, canola, and sorghum, as well as maize,using a six-row maize header.
Case IH Axial-Flow single-rotor technologycombines compact dimensions, operator comfort and advanced features with high harvesting capacity, thorough crop threshing, low grain losses as well as gentle grain handling.
Pottinger
Pöttinger’s ALPHA MOTION technology on the NOVACAT and EUROCAT has been helping farmers all over the world in mowing and forage quality.
“With the ALPHA MOTION headstock, the entire carrier frame adapts to the ground contours. The carrier frame slants downwards on downhill gradients and upwards when ascending,” stated the company.
Digital farming
Digital technologies are increasingly prevalent across the agricultural value chain, boosting production yields to new highs.
According to insights by McKinsey & Company on ‘Preparing for disruption in the food value chain, in the coming years, only the producers that have mastered precision agriculture will be ready to take advantage of the fourth era, next-generation agriculture technologies. Though faroff, this era will feature the proliferation of biotechnologies, gene editing and automation, including agricultural robots that will monitor fields and harvest crops, the study adds.
Technology is making significant impact on farmers.
Technology making significant impact on farmers.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently announced to help 1.7mn small-scale farmers in Kenya and Nigeria with personalised agricultural advice through their mobile phones, to improve their incomes, food security and resilience to economic shocks caused by COVID-19.
Robotics and artificial intelligence will drive a deep and transformative change in the agricultural world during the coming decades, according to IDTechEx. Machine vision technology increasingly uses deep learning algorithms often trained on expertannotated image datasets, allowing the technology to far exceed the performance of conventional algorithms and to match or even exceed even that of expert agronomists.
Precision agriculture tools are helping farms and machines run more efficiently with lower inputs and higher yields. Sustainable productivity arises through technology, innovation and integrated solutions to grow more food and deliver higher farm income.
In conclusion
Together with the demand for technology, government interventions and private sector initiatives are needed for financing, connectivity and creating awareness. The way forward for Africa points towards greater investment into agricultural innovations and technology adoption. h
Bagtech’s success represents more than 35 years of innovation in agribusiness, by developing its own technology through an innovative partnership with Festo.
Bagtech Fertiliser solutions expands its horizons
The pandemic created a first-time opportunity for Bagtech to commission one of their flagship NPK plants completely online.
BAGTECH HAS BEEN able to bring precision, quality machines to the market. Aside from its machines, the company offers its expertise in the management of bulk fertiliser and warehousing around Africa as well as consultancy worldwide. Well known in Africa, Bagtech is continuing its journey into the Americas.
The 2020 crisis has brought numerous challenges worldwide and has forced to adapt to the new reality of digitalisation, or the Internet of Things, where working from distance is the new normal. For food related companies it is vital to be prepared for this new era. Thanks to Bagtech’s unique automation system that enables clients’ equipment and the sharing of information, with no interruptions from anywhere in the world, the company was able to remain compliant to new legislation while maintaining its services to clients. Through its success in ensuring clients’ equipment was fully functional during this trying time, Bagtech strengthens its relationships with the consumer, while expanding brand awareness in the North of Africa and the Americas. “Our team keeps a close relationship with clients in order to improve the experiences daily to deliver their needs,” said Fred Coelho, CEO of Bagtech.
The pandemic created a first-time opportunity for Bagtech to commission one of their flagship NPK plants completely online. “Every challenge brings us a new opportunity to do things differently,” added Coelho on the completion of the commissioning. While busy innovating in IT, the company still found time to reach new regions delivering NPK plants to both Angola and Brazil, a first-time to each country for Bagtech.
Furthermore, Bagtech has been focusing
Image Credit: Bagtech
on improving product performance, increasing the productivity of its clients. The latest development is a mixer screw allowing for a more gentle mix and lower rotation of the product to deliver a higher quality fertiliser. It runs off a smaller motor lowering energy consumption and making the plant more sustainable.
This new concept has also been designed to run at ground level, eliminating the need for civil engineering (pits) resulting in a further cost reduction for the project. However, even with this pandemic, the world still needs feeding and quickly. And considering that up to 50% of the food we eat would not be available without fertilisers, this industry will remain robust and be deemed as essential, which means that, the more high-tech the industry becomes, the higher rate of results will be achieved, leading to a continuous supplying to the end consumers. h
A whitepaper by Intellias examines how combining agricultural technologies will drive the future of agricultural sustainability.
Creating a smart farming ecosystem
As noted in the whitepaper, 41.3 % of respondents lack knowledge about actions and measures that can be taken to make agriculture more sustainable.
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ARE set to solve complex challenges farmers and growers are facing today, according to a whitepaper published by Intellias.
The whitepaper on Sustainable Agriculture, From Tech Solutions to Ecosystem is published in the light of the global challenges imposed on farmers and agricultural companies.
To support sustainable agricultural practices, independent solutions are not enough. Such solutions can solve particular needs farmers are experiencing today, but in the face of severe upcoming challenges, agribusinesses require complex solutions that can unite the benefits of all possible technologies.
As noted in the whitepaper, 41.3 % of respondents lack knowledge about actions and measures that can be taken to make agriculture more sustainable.
The first part of the whitepaper focuses
Image Credit: kinwun/Adobe Stcok.
on analysing factors holding back farming operations and investigating ways that technologies can mitigate the most severe of those factors. In this part of the whitepaper, agribusinesses will get acquainted with customer personas of farmers, learn their needs, and recognise the current gaps in making technologies available at the scale necessary to support sustainable agricultural operations.
The second part of the whitepaper covers recent technological breakthroughs by worldknown agritech providers. The focus is on combining these technologies in one ecosystem based on proven practices applied
To support sustainable agricultural practices, independent solutions are not enough, according to the Intellias research.
by other industries that are already adopting a collaborative approach to technologies.
This whitepaper is a guide for AgriTech innovators on how to combine discrete agricultural technologies into borderless ecosystems to help farmers solve both the unique business challenges of today and the global challenges of tomorrow.
Intellias team of software engineers has accumulated knowledge within the agricultural industry that allowed the company to create unified farm management systems, horticultural lighting o support sustainable agricultural practices, solutions for indoor farms, weather monitoring tools, and a wide range of precision farming solutions. Intellias has been recognised by Inc 5000 as one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in Europe.
Intellias research provides valuable insights for agribusinesses and technology companies operating in the agricultural industry. h
World Bank provides additional support for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia
The funds will fill the unforeseen financing gaps created by high inflation and accelerate the implementation of project activities.
THE WORLD BANK Group has approved a US$80mn grant from the International Development Association to support the government of Ethiopia to boost agricultural productivity and enhance market access for smallholder farmers.
Agricultural growth has been a crucial driver of poverty reduction over the past decade, according to the World Bank’s 2019 Poverty Assessment for Ethiopia. Additional funding for the Second Agricultural Growth Project (AGPII) will further increase the economic potential of Ethiopia’s agricultural sector.
Vikas Choudhary, senior agricultural specialist at the World Bank, said “AGPII has made notable contributions to poverty reduction in Ethiopia. The project has been delivering solid results on the ground, especially in increasing productivity and enhancing commercialisation.
“Additionally, by promoting the use of irrigation, the project has enabled farmers to harvest two or three crops in a year; as opposed to a single crop under rainfed conditions, and diversify from cereals to high-value horticulture and nutritious crops.”
This additional funding will help tackle these challenges and is vital to ensure that the agricultural sector in Ethiopia reaches its full potential. The funds will go towards scaling up results achieved so far and improving the technical design of different activities.
In addition, the funds will fill the unforeseen financing gaps created by high inflation and accelerate the implementation of project activities which have been delayed due to significant cost-over run.
Ousmane Dione, World Bank country director for Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan, said, “The agricultural sector is crucial to Ethiopia’s economy as it accounts for 45% of total output and employs nearly 80% of the labour force. While encouraging results have been achieved so far, more work is needed to address remaining challenges and accelerate productivity gains, reduce exposure to erratic climatic conditions, decrease land degradation and enhance the natural resource base on which the sector depends.”
Crover unveils robotic grain monitoring solution
START-UP COMPANY CROVER has developed a robot that can ‘swim’ through cereals and grains to monitor their condition while they are still in storage.
This is a first-of-its-kind robotic grain monitoring solution and enables a greater understanding of the condition of stored grains.
The company is developing its technology as part of the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre United Kingdom (ESA BIC UK – part of ESA Space Solutions), the world’s largest business incubation programme for space tech start-ups who are using space technology to develop game-changing new products and services.
Managed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation, in collaboration with ESA, and partly funded by STFC, the University of Leicester and the UK Space Agency, the ESA BIC UK programme helps businesses boost their competitiveness in an increasingly fierce and global marketplace.
Based at STFC’s Higgs Centre for Innovation at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, Crover has been developing the robot that can take accurate temperature and moisture measurements as it travels through the grain. This data is then transmitted, via satellite communication, to the grain store manager. Through the ESA BIC UK programme, Crover has also gained access to the advanced 3D printing expertise and capabilities, enabling them to identify and develop the bespoke components required for their design.
The company said that this technology was also put to the test at the TechCrunch Start-up Battlefield 2020.
Dr Lorenzo Conti, the founder of Crover, said, “The opportunity to work alongside astronomers, engineers, as well as 3D printing and prototyping experts has been invaluable to our business and our mission to invent something that could help change the world for the better.”
DuPont Animal Nutrition, Proteon Pharmaceuticals partner on bacteriophage technology
The technology has been tested in Europe and Asia and proven in terms of efficacy and stability.
DUPONT ANIMAL NUTRITION, a DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences (DuPont) business unit, has announced a partnership with Proteon Pharmaceuticals.
It will bring the emerging bacteriophage technology to poultry producers, helping to mitigate antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The antimicrobial resistance threat has spurred recent investments in bacteriophageal technologies. Modern analytics and omics technologies have enabled the bacteriophage candidates to be screened and identified for a specific bacterial challenge, with significant implications for feed and food safety. This new technology is already being used in the animal feed industry.
DuPont invited Proteon Pharmaceuticals to partner with them for their compatible work culture, solid scientific approach and leading position in the field of phage technology
Poultry farmers in selected markets already benefit from using Proteon’s technology to ensure biosecurity through the waterline and to improve the efficiency of the production.
Aart Mateboer, business leader, DuPont Animal Nutrition, said, “Proteon Pharmaceuticals is a pioneer in bacteriophage technology used in animal farming. They have been developing this technology for more than 10 years. It has been tested in Europe and Asia and proven in terms of efficacy and stability.
“This technology fits with our nutribiotic approach. We are pleased to add it to our range of solutions for poultry producers.”
Jarosław Dastych, CEO, Proteon Pharmaceuticals, commented, “We strongly believe that our technology might be considered as the future of animal health and nutrition and will help to reduce antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance.
“We are excited to take this next step with DuPont to bring the benefits of bacteriophage technology as a feed additive to poultry producers globally.”
Syngenta launches Cropwise Seed Selector
AGRICULTURE COMPANY SYNGENTA and NK Seeds have launched the Cropwise Seed Selector to help farmers select seeds through data-driven recommendations.
Syngenta said the tool ensures that different market-developed systems can connect to provide quality data to growers.
The tool builds on technology combining artificial intelligence, two decades of agronomic information and a simple user interface.
In addition to the added benefit of being connected to Syngenta’s larger network of digital technologies, the Cropwise Seed Selector introduces NK resellers and customers to a number of new features designed to streamline and optimise seed selection processes, including satellite imagery for crop diagnostics and a tool that expedites field-by-field hybrid decisions.
Justin Welch, Syngenta digital product manager, said, “Our goal from the start with digitising seed selection has been to support growers from the ground up – combining the expertise of our retailers and agronomists with data-driven technology.
“By looking at what data and science are saying through an unbiased, fact-based lens, innovations like the Cropwise Seed Selector are helping farmers make better business and agronomic decisions.”
The company said an agronomic informa
An agronomic information archive allows Cropwise Seed Selector users to tailor their seed portfolio based on geographic location. tion archive allows Cropwise Seed Selector users to tailor their seed portfolio based on geographic location, soil productivity, precipitation levels, historical crop stress and product performance by year and region.
Users can adjust these factors to understand how a specific corn hybrid or soybean variety would perform under a range of different conditions — information critical to making confident seed selections. The platform is highly adaptable, enabling retailers and farmers to proactively plan for weather volatility, soil variability and planting specifications by being able to see real results from real places.
candy1812/Adobe Stock Image Credit:
CNH INDUSTRIAL ANNOUNCED its plan to expand direct presence in southern Africa’s agriculture and construction equipment sectors.
The company is moving to strengthen its local presence with the planned purchase of four divisions of Capital Equipment Group (CEG), previously owned by Invicta Holdings Limited. These include:
Northmec: South Africa’s most established agricultural equipment distributor and the sole distributor of Case IH equipment and implements
NHSA: A spare parts distributor in Southern Africa mainly focused on agriculture
CSE: A well-established equipment distributor operating for more than 50 years in the market and the sole distributor of CASE tractor loader backhoes and skid steer loaders;
Landboupart: A distributor of spare parts and implements. By taking full operational management of its commercial distribution and aftermarket network, CNH Industrial aims to further develop its Case IH and CASE Construction Equipment brands’ presence together with aftermarket sales and services in South Africa and other Southern African markets, strengthening its position and ties with its customer base.
This model is already in place for the company’s agriculture equipment brand New Holland Agriculture as well as its commercial and specialty vehicles business via its IVECO, IVECO ASTRA and IVECO BUS brands.
CNH Industrial is a global leader in the capital goods sector present in all major markets worldwide.
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Meyn Food Processing Technology B.V. ........2
THE COMPANY TURNED to processing specialist Bühler’s Sortex sorters to ensure a superior and more consistent quality of the coffee.The company was subsequently able to overcome its four most significant hurdles in coffee processing: product quality, export standards, operational efficiency and stability.
Most processing plants across Ethiopia use handpicking as a primary means of sorting coffee beans. Getaw Yalew, general manager at CPWE, said, “Before investing in the Sortex machines, we relied heavily on handpicking, and the quality control of our coffee was not great. The efficiency was poor, output per hour was low, and costs were high.” Bühler was able to meet CPWE’s sorting requirements with a portfolio of solutions responsible for processing around 75% of all Arabica beans exported from Ethiopia each year.
“Since investing in the Sortex machines, we have reduced our dependency on handpicking,” Yalew stated. As a result, the company has noticed a vast improvement in the quality of their coffee beans, with easier removal of sour, vinegar, immature and discoloured beans, in addition to insect-damaged and broca beans.
Export requirements for coffee beans in Ethiopia are among the highest criteria, with a 99.9% accept quality as standard. “Thanks to the simultaneous re-sorting functionality, we can count on our Sortex sorters to ensure that we continue to meet the toughest export requirements,” Yalew noted.
“CPWE has seen the market constantly growing in terms of volume. We have been able to supply our products at a consistent quality standard, with markets now perceiving us as a reliable supplier of high-quality coffee.”
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AfDB says SME's are lynchpin of African agriculture
A PANEL OF some of Africa’s most promising small and mediumenterprise (SME) agripreneurs gathered online to call for more selective investment, accelerated business acquisitions and increased cooperation to help Africa feed itself and the world.
The African Development Bank organised the virtual session, Integrating African Food Systems through the Lens of SME champions, as a side-event ahead of Africa’s largest agriculture conference – the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) – which was held online for the first time, from 8-11 September. Webinar moderator Atsuko Toda, bank director for agricultural finance and rural development, said the panel members, were selected because they are using innovative solutions, tailored their business models, have a proven track record, and shown to have an impact on food systems.
“We see the importance of the roles that you play, the risks you take and the Bank wants to give you more visibility so that policy makers can understand the challenges of what you are facing and help SME Champions to grow,” Toda said.
The group of African “SME Champions” - heads of SMEs across the continent’s food system production, processing, logistics, agricultural digitisation and cold storage chain solutions sub-sectors, set the scene for webinar attendees, by describing the challenges and opportunities they face in trying to meet Africa’s food systems demands.
“Especially if you are an SME it is really challenging to penetrate the market and do something significant,” said Nicholas Alexandre, global head of commercial at LORI, a Kenya-based tech-driven logistics company.
Others shared their experiences in overcoming challenges. For example, Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, head of Nigeria-based ColdHubs, says his solar power, cold storage facility company helps farmers’ produce stay fresher, longer, reducing the need to rush product to market at less competitive prices.
“We are taking the risk out of ownership of huge cold rooms from smallholder farmers because we design, operate and maintain these cold rooms. We offer a pay-as-you-use service model,” said Ikegwounu.
Kenya’s SunCulture company, which provides farmers with solarpowered irrigation services, uses a similar “pay-as-you-grow” service fee program. SunCulture CEO and SME champion Samir Ibrahim told webinar attendees that there has been sufficient development and investment support to African entrepreneurs to know what works –and that it is time to step up scaling up efforts.
Other champions said building up Africa’s agriculture sector lies in building up its agriculture value chains. SME Champion Patricia Zoundi, who started up Canaan Land, a Cote d’Ivoire-based company that trains women in rural areas in order to develop sustainable and inclusive agriculture said, “We have north-north cooperation. We have south-south cooperation. Now it is time to have SME-to-SME cooperation.”
Toda closed the session by reassuring SME Champions that their insights shared would be transformed into key messages intended to reimagine policy, resulting in the accelerated transformation of Africa’s food systems. “There is so much for us to share, proven solutions for us to amplify, to bring forward to scale and consolidate through partnerships and finance.”
