Building sustainable rice value chain in Africa and Asia via South-South and Triangular Cooperation

Training of government officials on rice mechanization in Tanzania, Côte d'Ivoire, and the Philippines

16/12/2022 -

12-16 December 2022, Virtual - Government officials from two African countries, Tanzania and Côte d'Ivoire, and an Asian country, the Philippines, participated in a week-long international training session on formulating sustainable Agricultural Mechanization Strategies (AMS) and Mechanization Hire Services, relevant to rice value chains, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) under the “Capacity Development and Experience sharing for Rice Value Chains through South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC)” project, funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Republic of Korea (MAFRA).

Agricultural mechanization generally refers to the application of tools, powered equipment and machinery to enhance agricultural productivity at all levels. It is a significant pillar to enhance agricultural productivity. However, farmers and actors along the rice value chains in the three target countries are still facing challenges to access and utilize the mechanization, hence, hampering their rice sector productivity and sustainability.

In this respect, this international training was designed to underline the importance of agricultural mechanization in the countries, specifically through the formulation of AMS.

The training also focused on introducing the role of mechanization hire services, and their provision, along the value chain by the owner of the mechanization equipment to those needing services at a fee, in the context of sustainable agriculture.

The training was led by the agricultural mechanization team of FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP) as well as the project team of FAO’s South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division (PST).

Mr. Karim Houmy, Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization Consultant of NSP, highlighted the necessity of AMS characterized by strong linkages between farmers, who are mechanization users, and machinery suppliers, who are manufacturers, importers, and retailers, to develop sustainable mechanization in rice value chains. He mentioned that mechanization strategy development requires a long-term process with strong governmental support, given the interlinkage between different types of stakeholders along the value chain.

Mr. Joseph Mpagalile, Agricultural Engineer of NSP, also emphasized that agricultural mechanization must be economically, environmentally, and socio-economically sustainable to be effective and impactful. He presented the mechanization hire service as a viable business model, which should be integrated to the strategies and an opportunity to build more inclusive and sustainable rice value chains.

Experts from Côte d’Ivoire and Benin also shared their knowledge and experiences on different hire service business models, respectively managed by the private sector and the government. Overall, the trainees were able to learn different types of successful agricultural hire service business models varied from country to country, useful when formulating the national AMS.

Trainers were also reminded that each government has a crucial role to build agricultural mechanization strategies tailored to their countries, in order to ultimately benefit local smallholder farmers.

To support the exchanges, the FAO project team confirmed its readiness to engage and facilitate knowledge exchanges among the participating countries through existing mechanization relevant FAO networks and platforms, as well as via South-South and Triangular Cooperation mechanism.

Building on this international training, trainees will also be able to develop national level training curriculum and execute the trainings on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization Strategies and Hire Services planned in 2023.