CEMA Partnership
FAO and the European Agricultural Machinery Industry Association CEMA , an international non-profit organisation, forged a new partnership that aims to promote wider use of sustainable agricultural mechanization in developing countries. CEMA is the association representing the European agricultural machinery industry. It has 11 national member associations, and its network represents both large multinational companies as well as the numerous European small and medium-sized enterprises active in the sector.
FAO and CEMA will work together to manage and disseminate knowledge on sustainable approaches to agricultural mechanization. They are jointly developing technical programmes to support innovation in mechanization and facilitate the implementation of sustainable mechanization initiatives at the field level.
The FAO-CEMA partnership will initially focus on capacity building activities in Africa, where human muscle remains the most important power source for smallholder farmers. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, humans provide 65 percent of the power required for land preparation compared to 40 percent in East Asia, 30 percent in South Asia and 25 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean. Read more...