The document discusses the opportunities for mechanization in conservation agriculture (CA) systems in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting challenges such as labor shortages and declining use of draught animals. It emphasizes small mechanization as an appropriate solution, minimizing social and environmental impacts while improving productivity. The document outlines various models for commercializing small mechanization, suggesting strategies to build demand and link financing to the mechanization process.

1. Frédéric Baudron and colleagues
Rome, 13th January 2015
Opportunities for (appropriate)
mechanization in CA systems

2.  Increasing labour shortages (rural-
urban migration, HIV/AIDS, ageing population)
 Declining number of draught
animals (biomass shortage, drought, diseases)
 High labour drudgery
 Gender implications
 Unattractive to the youth
 Farm power: a major limiting factor
to productivity in SSA?
Farm power: the forgotten
resource in SSA?

3.  CA (No-Till) mainly adopted in South
America, North America and Australia + New
Zealand (47%, 38%, and 11% of cropland) (Derpsch
and Friedrich, 2009)
 One of the major incentive: reduction in fuel
and machinery costs (Kassam et al., 2009)
 Major incentive in the less mechanized
systems in developing countries: early
planting (arising from the reduced number of
operations required to prepare the land) (Haggblade
and Tembo, 2003)
 Primary purpose of CA: establishing a crop
with as little energy (= power × time) as
possible
CA: first and foremost an
energy-saving technology

4. CA & Small Mech: Synergies
Soil inversion is the most power intensive operation.
Its suppression makes the use of lower powered, more
affordable and easier to maintain tractors possible.

5. CA with a Two-Wheel Tractor:
options commercially available
Strip tillage Direct-seeding: 2 rows Direct-seeding: 1 row

6. Dramatic reduction in the time
needed to establish a crop…
0
20
40
60
80
100
Conv land
prep +
planting
Conv
planting
Danyang
2BFG
VMP National
ZT
Fitarelli 2R Fitarelli 1R Morrisson
seeder
Time(hourha-1)
(Data from Hawassa, Ethiopia)

7. Low fuel consumption
5 to 10 L ha-1

8. Yield advantage for small grain

9. But not true ‘best bet’ for SSA
 Biophysical specificities
 Dry, hard, stony fields
 Uneven fields
 Weed load
 Socioeconomic specificities
 Distance between fields
 Diversity of crops
 Resource constraints

10. Locally-made tool-bar-based
seeder

11. Small mech = Appropriate mech
in most of SSA
 Minimum negative social impact
 No need for land consolidation (2/3 of African
farms smaller than 2 ha; Alteri, 2009)
 Equitable access (low capital needed for the
purchase, operation and maintenance)
 No displacement of labour (mechanization of
the most power-intensive operations only)
 Minimimum negative
environmental impacts
 Soil degradation (lower footprint, minimum tillage
as a must in rainfed conditions)
 Biodiversity (maintenance of heterogeneity at plot
– e.g. trees – and landscape levels)

12. Small mech = Appropriate mech
in most of SSA

13. Commercializing small mech to
resource-constrained farmers
 Private rural service providers
 Only few farmers will be able to purchase
machines individually
 Not profitable for farmers to own machines
unless they provide services
 Multi-purpose uses (to maximize
mechanization use rates)
 Linking input BM to output BM (cash
flow)
 Bundling of services and products
(to reduce the cost of mechanization services)
 Possible need of a broker (weak
markets, vulnerable farmers)

14. Multipurpose use of 2WTs
 High demand for
mechanization, even at low
labour wage for:
 Transport
 Power-intensive operations that
require little human control (e.g.
shelling)
 Power-intensive operations that
are unprofitable when
unmechanized (e.g. water pumping)
 Entry points?

15. 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Proportionoftotalannuallaburin
Meru
Months
< 150 mandays
150-250 mandays
> 250 mandays
Weeding
Sowing
Harvesting
Transporting
Beyond crop establishment…

16. Several models…

17. Several models…
1. Group owner/ operator model (KEN, TAN)
2. Group owner/ individual operator model (TAN)
3. Individual owner/ operator model – local market, part time
SP (farmer to farmer) (ETH, KEN)
4. Individual owner/ operator model – wider market, full time
SP (ETH)
5. Contract farming – corporate owner/ operator model (ZIM)
6. Dealer-led vertically integrated model (KEN, ZIM)
7. Dealer-led collaborative model (ETH)
8. Manufacturer-led vertically integrated model (TAN)
9. Manufacturer-led collaborative model (TAN)

18. Why should it work this time?
 Demand for mechanized
services has increased
(intensification, commercial
orientation)
 Supporting infrastructure
(e.g. access to finance, repair
services, replacement parts, fuel and
lubricants) has developed
 Past public sector focus
(inefficient and uneconomic
government-run tractor hire
schemes)

19. Steps
1. Identifying tasks to be mechanized (low labor
productivity and/or high labor drudgery, likely demand)
2. Identifying/manufacturing suitable machines
3. Creating demand (incentives for commercial actors)
4. Building capacity and skills for mechanization
and business (machines owned by farmers at an early stage,
entrepreneurs specialized in hiring services later)
5. Linking to finance

20. Thank you!