A new small-scale agricultural machinery leasing scheme became operational in Amhara region, Ethiopia, in December 2019. The initiative offers farmers and group of farmers the opportunity to buy agricultural machineries with only 15-20% advance payment and the rest to be paid during a three-year period. Three farmers participated in the pilot phase of the project.
This initiative, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the German Development Agency (GIZ), is one more step to expand small-scale agricultural mechanization in Ethiopia. CIMMYT and GIZ have explored this area of work since 2015, in collaboration with government and private partners.
Subsistence modes of production, shortage of quality agricultural inputs and farm machinery services are some of the impediments to expand agricultural productivity and enhance food security in Ethiopia.
Small-scale agricultural mechanization, in the Ethiopian context, improves the quality of field operations. For example, farmers are benefiting from row planting, optimal plant population, more precise seed and fertilizer placement, efficient utilization of soil moisture during planting window. The timing of operations is also very important — delays in planting could have a serious negative impact on yield, and harvesting and threshing must be done at a time when there is no labor shortages. Small-scale mechanization drastically saves time and labor compared to conventional crop establishment systems, and reduces yield loss at the time of harvesting and threshing.
Farmers walk by irrigated potato fields during a field day to learn about the use of small-scale agricultural mechanization. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
Despite these advantages, the adoption rate has been too low. A survey conducted by IFPRI and Ethiopia’s Central Statistical Agency in 2015 shows that only 9% of farmers in Ethiopia use machine power to plough their land, harvest their output, or thresh their crops. A significant number of farmers continues to use conventional farming systems, using animal and human labor.
Ephrem Tadesse, small-scale mechanization project agribusiness specialist with CIMMYT, said that most of the land holdings in Ethiopia are small and fragmented, and thus not suitable for large agricultural machineries.
CIMMYT and its partners introduced the two-wheel tractor and tested it in different parts of the country. One of the challenges has been the issue of access to finance to buy tractors and their accessories, because of their relatively high costs for individual farmers to buy with their own cash, noted Ephrem.
CIMMYT and GIZ have been working with selected microfinance institutes to pilot a machinery leasing scheme for small-scale agricultural mechanization. For several years, they have partnered with Waliya Capital Goods Finance Business Share in the Amhara region and with Oromia Capital Goods Lease Finance Business Share Company in the Oromia region. In December 2019, three farmers in the Machakel district of the Amhara region were the first ones to receive their machines through this scheme.
Farmers in the district of Machakel participate in a field day to learn about the use of small-scale agricultural mechanization. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
Tesfaw Workneh is the father of one of the beneficiaries. “This is great opportunity for farmers like my son to access small-scale agricultural machinery,” said Tesfaw. His son only paid 30,000 Ethiopian birr, about $1,000 — that is 20% of the total cost to own the different agricultural implements. Now, he is able to provide service to other farmers and get income, he explained.
Several types of machinery are being considered for this leasing scheme, using the two wheel-tractor as the source of power: planters, harvesters/reapers, threshers/shellers, trailers and water pumps.
For farmers like Alemayew Ewnetu, this kind of machinery is a novelty that makes farming easier. “Today, my eyes have seen miracles. This is my first time seeing such machineries doing everything in a few minutes. We have always relayed on ourselves and the animals. Now I am considering selling some of my animals to buy the implements,” said Alemayew.
Demelsah Ynew, Deputy Director of Waliya Capital Goods Finance Business Share, noted that his company was established six years ago to provide services in the manufacturing sector. However, after a discussion with CIMMYT and GIZ, the company agreed to extend its services to the agriculture sector. When revising our role, he noted, we considered the limitations farmers have in adopting technologies and the vast opportunity presented in the agricultural sector. Demelsah explained that to benefit from the leasing scheme, farmers will have to fulfill a few minimal criteria, including being residents of the area and saving 15-20% of the total cost.
Domestic rice and wheat production in Bangladesh has more than doubled in the last 30 years, despite declining per capita arable land. The fact that the country is now almost self-sufficient in staple food production is due in large part to successful and rapid adoption of modern, high-yielding crop varieties. This has been widely documented, but less attention has been paid to the contribution of small-scale irrigation systems, whose proliferation has enabled double rice cropping and a competitive market system in which farmers can purchase irrigation services from private pump owners at affordable rates.
However, excess groundwater abstraction in areas of high shallow tube-well density and increased fuel costs for pumping have called into question the sustainability of Bangladesh’s groundwater irrigation economy. Cost-saving agronomic methods are called for, alongside aligned policies, markets, and farmers’ incentives.
A recent study by researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) examines the different institutions and water-pricing methods for irrigation services that have emerged in Bangladesh, each of which varies in their incentive structure for water conservation, and the level of economic risk involved for farmers and service providers.
Using primary data collected from 139 irrigation service providers and 556 client-farmers, the authors assessed the structure of irrigation service types as well as the associated market and institutional dimensions. They found that competition between pump owners, social capital, and social relationship between of pump owners and client farmers, significantly influence the structure of irrigation services and irrigation water pricing methods. Greater competition between pump owners, for instance, increases the likelihood of pay-per-hour services while reducing that of crop sharing arrangements.
Based on these and other findings, authors made policy recommendations for enhancing irrigation services and sustainability in Bangladesh. As Bangladesh is already highly successful in terms of the conventional irrigation system, the authors urge taking it to the next level for sustainability and efficiency.
Currently Bangladesh’s irrigation system is based on centrifugal pumps and diesel engines. The authors suggest scaling out the energy efficient axial flow pump, and the alternate wetting and drying system for water conservation and irrigation efficiency. They also recommend further investment in rural electrification to facilitate the use of electric motors, which can reduce air pollution by curbing dependency on diesel engines.
This study was made possible through the support provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). Additional support was provided by the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize (MAIZE) and Wheat (WHEAT).
Local irrigation service providers in southern Bangladesh demonstrate the use of a two-wheeled tractor to power an axial flow pump to provide fuel-efficient surface water irrigation. (Photo: Tim Krupnik/CIMMYT)
Read more recent publications by CIMMYT researchers:
A spatial framework for ex-ante impact assessment of agricultural technologies. 2019. Andrade, J.F., Rattalino Edreira, J.I., Farrow, A., Loon, M.P. van., Craufurd, P., Rurinda, J., Shamie Zingore, Chamberlin, J., Claessens, L., Adewopo, J., Ittersum, M.K. van, Cassman, K.G., Grassini, P. In: Global Food Security v. 20, p. 72-81.
A man demonstrates the precision spreader to farmers in Bardiya, Nepal, in collaboration with the Janaekata cooperative and the local government. (Photo: Hari Prasad Acharya/CIMMYT)
Smallholder farmers in Nepal tend to apply fertilizer by hand, spreading it as they walk through the field. Under this practice, fertilizer is dispersed randomly and is therefore unevenly distributed among all the seedlings. A recently introduced method, however, helps farmers spread fertilizer in a more uniform, faster and easier way.
The precision spreader is a hand-operated device that ensures an even distribution of fertilizer and is easy to operate. This technology is endorsed by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), a project led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) which helps Nepalese farmers adapt measures that are efficient, effective and resilient to the impacts of climate change.
In addition to more consistent distribution, the precision spreader regulates the exact amount of fertilizer required and helps the farmer cover a considerable area with limited movement. This technology has been proven to require less time and effort than the traditional method of broadcasting by hand.
Considering the potential benefits, the CSISA team introduced farmers in Nepal to the precision spreader through training sessions followed by demonstrations of its use. They took place in wheat fields in Bansgadhi, Barbardiya and Duduwa, in Lumbini province, in collaboration with multipurpose cooperative Janaekata and the local governments. Through these sessions, conducted in 45 different sites, more than 650 farmers had a chance to familiarize themselves with the precision spreader, and most of them took a keen interest in incorporating the device into their cropping management practices.
Perhaps the most prominent reason why the precision spreader sparked such interest is that women can easily use it. Most men in rural areas have migrated to the city or abroad in hopes of higher income, so work in the fields has been inadvertently transferred to women. Since Nepal is a predominantly conservative patriarchal society, women have not yet become comfortable and familiarized with all farming practices, especially operating heavy agricultural machinery. However, as expressed by women themselves, the precision spreader is highly convenient to use. Its use could help ease women into the agriculture scene of Nepal and consequently reduce farming drudgery.
A woman operates a precision spreader during a demonstration for a farmer group in Guleriya MCP, Bardiya, in coordination with the Suahaara nutrition project. (Photo: Salin Acharya/CIMMYT)
Healthier crops, healthier people
Nestled between China and India, Nepal predominantly relies on agriculture for employment. With the majority of its population engaged in the agricultural sector, the country still struggles to produce an adequate food supply for its people, resulting in depressed rural economies, increased malnutrition and widespread hunger.
Sustainable intensification, therefore, is necessary to increase the overall yield and to accelerate agricultural development.
Better distribution of fertilizer in the fields results in a higher chance of healthier crops, which are the source of better nutrition.
A wider use of a seemingly small technology like the precision spreader would not only reduce hardships in farming, but it would also help farmers become more resilient towards the natural and economic adversities they face.
The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) is a regional project in Bangladesh, India and Nepal that was established in 2009 with the goal of benefiting more than 8 million farmers by the end of 2020. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CSISA is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and implemented jointly with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Halima Begum wanted to increase her income by providing mechanization services to other farmers in Bangladesh’s Chuadanga district, but she was limited by the level of physical effort required. Starting the engine of her tractor was difficult and embarrassing — cranking it required a lot of strength and she had to rely on others to do it for her. She was also afraid she would get injured, like other local service providers.
Women in rural areas of Bangladesh are often hesitant to work in the fields. Social norms, limited mobility, physical exertion, lack of time and other constraints can cause aspiring female entrepreneurs to step back, despite the prospect of higher income. The few women like Halima who do step out of their comfort zone and follow their dreams often have to overcome the physical effort required to operate these machines.
Starting the tractor is a daunting task on its own and the possibility of having to do it multiple times a day adds to the reluctance of ownership.
To make manual cranking a thing of the past for Bangladeshi women entrepreneurs, and to encourage others, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), through the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI), is supporting small businesses who manufacture and sell affordable mechanical self-starter attachments for two-wheel tractors.
The self-starter is a simple spring-loaded device mounted over the old crank handle socket, which allows users to start the engine with the flick of a lever.
Halima Begum operates her two-wheel tractor, equipped with a self-starter device. (Photo: Mostafa Kamrul Hasan/CIMMYT)
For women like Begum, manually starting a tractor was a difficult task that is now gone forever.
“I used to struggle quite a lot before, but now I can easily start the machine, thanks to this highly convenient self-starter,” Begum said.
The self-starter reduces the risk of accidents and coaxes hesitant youth and women to become entrepreneurs in the agricultural mechanization service industry.
CIMMYT is supporting businesses like Janata Engineering, which imports self-starter devices and markets them among local service providers in the district of Sorojgonj, Chuadanga district. The project team worked with the owner, Md. Ole Ullah, to organize field demonstrations for local service providers, showing how to use and maintain the self-starter device.
The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project focuses on upstream market interventions in Bangladesh, ensuring technologies are reliably available in local markets and supported by an extensive value chain.
Mechanization demonstration during a field visit to Makonde, Zimbabwe, as part of the FACASI Phase 2 final review meeting. Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT
African farmers have ten times fewer mechanized tools per farm area than farmers in other developing regions, according to the Malabo Panel’s mechanization report. For the past six years, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funded Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) project has explored ways to address poor access to appropriate mechanization solutions, which is costing smallholders a lot in lost productivity.
“One of the key outcomes of the FACASI initiative has been to present women and youth with pathways into diverse profitable income generating businesses using small mechanization,” says Alice Woodhead, professor in rural economies at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. Woodhead shared her impressions following a field visit to Makonde, in northwestern Zimbabwe, as part of the FACASI Phase 2 final review meeting held in May. Almost 40 public and private sector project partners from Zimbabwe and Ethiopia attended the event in Harare as well as ACIAR representatives.
Farm machinery: women entrepreneurs thrive on two wheels
Agatha Dzvengwe and Marianne Jaji shared their business experience as two-wheel tractor (2WT) service providers in Makonde. The 2WT, which can be used for multiple purposes from transporting, planting, fertilizer application and shelling, allows them to plant efficiently and provides additional income through hiring out their tractors to neighboring farmers. For instance, during the 2018/19 season, Dzvengwe used the Fitarelli planter to plant ten hectares of maize, two hectares of sugar beans and five hectares of soybeans. Because of the planter’s efficiency, she had enough extra time to hire out planting services to neighboring farmers, earning $100 for one hectare of maize, and double for the planting of soybean or sugar beans.
Marianne Jaji provides 2WT based shelling services, which she says generates steady income for her household, enabling her to contribute to important household decisions. Despite the 2018/19 season being characterized by drought, Jaji was confident that she could still earn a decent income from neighboring farmers engaging the 2WT harvesting services. Other women service providers reported relief from labor drudgery and empowerment. “We have been freed from the burden of toiling in the field. Now that I own a 2WT, the society respects me more.”
“In a business dominated by men, women like Agatha and Marianne can become successful entrepreneurs, providing crucial farming services for the community such as shelling, planting and transport,” explains Bertha Tandayi, a FACASI research assistant at the University of Zimbabwe, where she studies the adoption of 2WT based technologies by women entrepreneurs in Makonde and Nyanga districts.
Small-scale mechanization has higher adoption rates in areas where the most profitable services are provided, such as shelling. The benefits for entrepreneurs and the community are visible and include the creation of employment, home renovations, asset accumulation, livestock rearing, borehole drilling and the purchasing of agricultural inputs.
Mechanization demonstration during a field visit to Makonde, Zimbabwe, as part of the FACASI Phase 2 final review meeting. Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT
Sustainable shelling enterprise for Mwanga youth group
Since establishing their enterprise in 2016 following training under the FACASI project, the Mwanga youth group is still going strong in Makonde. During a live demonstration of the medium sized sheller, Masimba Mawire remarked that the shelling business has provided steady and reliable income for the group. Brothers Shepherd and Pinnot Karwizi added that the group has gained from further training in maintenance, facilitated through the FACASI project. “It is evident that the youths have found a way to work as a business team, giving them purpose and to realize aspirations of being a business owner and not just an employee,” said Woodhead.
Of the services provided through the 2WT technologies, shelling services are in greatest demand, as this simple technology significantly reduces the time spent on shelling maize cobs. A medium sized sheller, for example, produces between five and six tons of shelled maize grain per day, over ten times more than manual shelling.
The combined benefits of income, reduced drudgery and high efficiency of the 2WT based technologies have transformed the lives of the youths and women services providers. Confident in their future, they plan to expand their business portfolios, looking at value addition options such as post-harvest processing of other crops.
In November 2015, Jelle Van Loon set off for Zimbabwe, with a cross-section plan in his backpack. He spent two weeks working with a group of blacksmiths, searching Harare for parts and assembling machines in a bid to test whether the construction plans developed by his team were indeed designed to be built anywhere. “We might have had to change a few things, but three working machines were built, proving the accessibility of the construction plans and inherent replicability of the designs.”
From studying agronomic engineering and crop modelling in Belgium to working on supply chain issues in Peru, Jelle Van Loon amassed a range of experience before joining the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in 2012. Soon after joining, he began shaping up a team to work on mechanization issues.
“First and foremost I’m an agricultural engineer; I just happen to have a high affinity with mechanics,” he says. “I think my advantage is having a broad knowledge, being able to understand agronomy as well as mechanical engineering, and having studied agricultural economics in developing countries.”
This background has served him well in a role where a hands-on, multidisciplinary approach is crucial.
“Mechanization doesn’t necessarily mean building or creating more machines,” Van Loon explains, “but rather introducing technology and farm equipment to farmers to facilitate their work, as well as supporting them on how and when to use it to increase production efficiency.” Many people also assume that mechanization only involves motorized equipment such as tractors, he adds, when in fact any tool, even simple hand tools, which facilitate farmer work and alleviate drudgery fit into this concept.
CIMMYT’s mechanization team carries out research and development on a range of farm equipment. Team members draw and design prototypes, test them in the field and develop protocols for experiments. Combining agronomy and mechanics, they work to create machinery that supports farmers in their day-to-day work at each stage of the crop cycle: from land preparation, planting and fertilization, to harvest and shelling. They also support the generation of new business models which can deliver appropriate machinery to farmers working within resilient agri-food systems.
Welcome to the machine
One of the biggest challenges is changing the way farmers work. Many are resistant to investing in new machinery because they are unsure of how to use it, and simply cannot afford the risk of failure. As such, the team also places an emphasis on extension work. They have set up centers where growers can learn about the equipment and rent out some model machines. They also build the capacity of service providers through training on functional engineering for blacksmiths and manufacturers, and market intelligence for small sector entrepreneurs.
“It’s beyond just designing the machine. It’s really about taking products out to the field, seeing what works well and where, and then thinking about how we can get these products into the hands of farmers.”
Building on the work being carried out in Mexico, Van Loon is always looking at how other regions can also benefit from the mechanization unit and opportunities for collaborating with colleagues and partners in Africa and Asia. Equipment developed for farmers in Africa or Latin America could be adapted for use in South Asia or vice versa, but this requires a solid understanding of each region’s unique opportunities and challenges.
He points to the example of the two-wheel tractor engine, developed in China and popularized in Asia during the 1980s, when famine and the loss of draft animals prompted governments to subsidize that particular piece of equipment at the right time. The tractor is ubiquitous in countries such as Bangladesh, but it is unclear whether the same success is replicable in Africa and Latin America, neither of which has the same conditions, second-hand markets or import facilities. “We’re trying to learn from cross-regional efforts to scale up. Being able to understand different areas helps us find the weakest links and create more enabling environments,” Van Loon explains.
He and his team are continuously developing and evaluating new ideas, trialing ways of embedding mechatronics or sensory-based technology into their machines to help capture data and ease farmer workloads. Finding a way to keep these low-cost and convenient for farmer use may be a challenge, but positive testimonials from farmers keep him excited about the possibilities.
“I think it’s worthwhile to follow through on wild new ideas and see what happens because when it works out, the positive impact and change we help create is all that matters,” Van Loon notes.
“And more so, the cool thing about working in mechanization is we can go as far as our creativity lets us.”
Jelle Van Loon demonstrates machinery for visitors at CIMMYT’s global headquarters in Mexico. (Photo: Gerardo Mejía/CIMMYT)
A new fact sheet debunking myths about agricultural labor and mechanization has been presented at the Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) end of project review meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The fact sheet, based on a recent study by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), shows African farming households are far more dependent on hire labor markets, and much more inclined to hire mechanization services, than previously assumed.
Over 50 agriculture for development specialists are gathering from May 11 to 17, 2019, to review the FACASI project’s progress. The project investigated how small-scale mechanization, such as two-wheel tractors with attachments, can be used to improve farm power balance, reduce labor drudgery, and promote sustainable intensification in Eastern and Southern Africa. The project also built the capacity of farmers to use size-appropriate machinery and trained hire service providers, to increase the equitable availability of mechanization services.
At the review meeting, participants will focus on widening the availability and use of small mechanization through commercialization, social inclusion, policy implications, and how to best use research outputs. They will also get to see two-wheel tractors in action and meet project farmers in visits to different districts around Zimbabwe.
In attendance are representatives from the project’s funder, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), and partners including Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture, the University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Lands Agriculture Water Climate and Rural Resettlement, the University of Southern Queensland, service providers and training centers from Zimbabwe, and private sector representatives from Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
For further information on CIMMYT’s agricultural mechanization work in Africa:
New farm-level research into agricultural labor in eastern and southern Africa found that a lack of farm power is costing smallholders in productivity, demonstrating a far higher demand for mechanization than commonly thought.
The study identified African farming households are far more dependent on labor markets than previously assumed, and thus far more inclined to hire mechanization services. The findings call on governments in the region to create an enabling environment to promote appropriate mechanization for small-scale farmers, said lead researcher Frédéric Baudron, systems agronomist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
“The high number of households already hiring farm power challenges common myths that suggest smallholder farms depends almost entirely on labor as it’s provided by family members. The demand for mechanized farm power is there, the supply isn’t and that is the issue,” he explained.
Unlike studies before it, the research avoided country-level indicators, such as the share of fallow land or population density, to assess the need for mechanized farming operations. Instead, it gathered detailed labor data from households in eight sites dominated by smallholder agriculture across Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
The study demonstrated that households that invest in agricultural power improve food production.
“To increase farm productivity, profitability, and sustainability, African farmers need greater access to affordable farm machinery to optimize processes,” Baudron said.
Small-scale mechanization appropriately sized for small farms — such as technologies based on two-wheel tractors, including direct planters — represents a shift away from conventional mechanization strategies dependent on large machines, leading to land consolidation and the disappearance of otherwise-productive small farms, Baudron said.
“Governments in the region need to create an enabling environment for mechanization supply chains to develop,” he explained. “This includes the creation of mechanization policy instruments, such as subsidies and training, that further respond to smallholder demand.”
Training and supporting hire service providers has shown to improve the equitable access to mechanization, which reduces labor drudgery and promotes sustainable intensification practices.
The research also presented a more nuanced analysis of the interrelations between male and female labor than usually presented in academic studies. It found women provide less labor than men and hired labor and suggests reducing drudgery among women relies upon understanding men’s chores and improving both as a two-way process.
In all sites studied rural women found that the priority for mechanization should be given to crop establishment, which would benefit both men and women. Land preparation and planting are tasks commonly performed by males, but their optimization influences weeding and postharvest tasks, primarily completed by women.
“These interconnections between men’s and women’s tasks have rarely been mentioned before, and should be tapped into for gender-sensitive interventions,” said Baudron.
Florence Ochieng harvests green maize on her 105-acre family farm near Kitale, Kenya. (Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)
Five persistent myths related to labor in African smallholder agriculture, challenged
Myth 1: Labor is abundant and cheap; thus, farm power does not limit agricultural productivity
Reality: It is commonly believed farm power does not limit agricultural productivity because there is an abundant amount of cheap labor options in southern and eastern Africa. However, the farm-level study showed a lack of farm power is holding back productivity and illustrated a much higher demand for mechanization than macroeconomic analyses, pointing to a problem of access rather than a lack of demand. It revealed the importance of labor or other sources of farm power in explaining the variability of land productivity. It also found that investments in farm power at the farm level improved land productivity.
Myth 2: Most of the labor is provided by women
Reality: Across the eight sites studied, women were found to provide just 7 to 35% of the labor invested in household farming, far less than the often-claimed percentage of 60 to 80%. Overall, the farm-level study found women tended to provide less labor for farming than men and hired labor. Even when considering female-headed households alone, women were only the main providers of labor in half of the sites — hired labor or children were we the main providers of labor.
The largest share of female labor tended to be invested in activities characterized by high drudgery, weeding and postharvest in particular, although this varied across sites. Weeding was also the main task performed by men in four of the sites studied. In fact, the study revealed that weeding tended to be a shared task between men, women, children, and hired labor, and not as dominated by female labor as commonly thought.
Myth 3: Agricultural tasks are carried out almost entirely by family labor
Reality: The study showed the majority of farming households in the region hire labor to complete agricultural tasks. Farm power hired included human labor, draught animals and, to a much lesser extent, tractor power.
This challenges the common view of Africa being dominated by family farms which, according to FAO, “rely mainly on the labor of family members.” African farming households may be far more dependent on labor markets than commonly assumed, and thus far more inclined to hire mechanization services.
Myth 4: Consolidation, by enabling “efficient” mechanization, would have a positive impact on agricultural productivity
Reality: The study found the maximum land productivity a farm can achieve decreased with increasing farm area in the majority of sites. This supports the so-called “negative farm size–productivity relationship” which has been reported by other studies in eastern and southern Africa.
Mechanization should not be a cause of consolidation — it should rather be driven by economic development. The concept of “appropriate mechanization” embraced by CIMMYT argues that machines should adapt to farm size, and not the opposite. Recent research and development initiatives taking place in the region point to the potential of using small single-axle tractors for agricultural mechanization in areas dominated by small and fragmented fields.
Myth 5: African agriculture is characterized by a wide gender gap
Reality: Research across all eight sites provided little evidence of a consistent gender gap. Land productivity was found not to differ significantly between male-headed households and female-headed households.
The research suggests the limited evidence of any substantial gender gap may stem from the fact that resources are highly inadequate across all sites, limiting large inequalities to manifest. This is not to deny the usefulness of current interventions targeting women-headed households, but rather to highlight the importance of preserving, strengthening, and tapping on social mechanisms in rural communities.
For small-scale farmers, mechanization and other appropriate technologies have a big impact in agricultural production and yield. However, they might lack the resources to buy these tools. Hello Tractor is trying to improve this.
Dubbed the “Uber for the farm”, the company’s app easily allows tractor owners to rent their machinery to farmers and includes features that can help enhance a tractor owner’s business and operations. In this episode, we’re talking to Martha Haile, Chief Operations Officer at Hello Tractor, about the company’s success and social innovation in agriculture.
Bangladesh farmer Raju Sarder sits on his recently acquired reaper. (Photo: iDE/Md. Ikram Hossain)
A man in his early 20s walked the winding roads of Sajiara village, Dumuria upazila, Khulna District in Bangladesh. His head hanging low, he noticed darkness slowly descending and then looked up to see an old farmer wrapping up his own daily activities. With traditional tools in hand, the farmer looked exhausted. The young man, Raju Sarder, considered that there had to be a better way to farm to alleviate his drudgery and that of others in the community.
Determined to act, Raju set out to meet Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) officials the very next day. They informed him about the Mechanization and Irrigation project of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA MI). They also introduced him to the project’s most popular technologies, namely the power tiller operated seeder, reaper and axial flow pumps, all of which reduce labor costs and increase farming efficiency.
Raju found the reaper to be the most interesting and relevant for his work, and contacted a CSISA representative to acquire one.
The first challenge he encountered was the cost — the equivalent of $1,970 — which as a small-scale farmer he could not afford. CSISA MI field staff assured him that his ambitions were not nipped in the bud and guided him in obtaining a government subsidy and a loan of $1,070 from TMSS, one of CSISA MI’s micro financing partners. Following operator and maintenance training from CSISA MI, Raju began providing reaping services to local smallholder rice and wheat farmers.
He noticed immediately that he did not have to exert himself as much as before but actually gained time for leisure and his production costs dwindled. Most remarkably, for reaping 24 hectares Raju generated a profit of $1,806; a staggering 15 times greater than what he could obtain using traditional, manual methods and enough to pay back his loan in the first season.
“There was a time when I was unsure whether I would be able to afford my next meal,” said Raju, “but it’s all different now because profits are pouring in thanks to the reaper.”
As a result of the project and farmers’ interest, field labor in Raju’s community is also being transformed. Gone are the days when farmers toiled from dawn to dusk bending and squatting to cut the rice and wheat with rustic sickles. Laborious traditional methods are being replaced by modern and effective mechanization. Through projects such as CSISA MI, CIMMYT is helping farmers like Raju to become young entrepreneurs with a bright future. Once poor laborers disaffected and treated badly in their own society, these youths now walk with dignity and pride as significant contributors to local economic development.
For decades, rice stubble has been burned in India to clear fields and prepare for wheat sowing. The easiest way of getting rid of rice crop residue is to burn it in bulk, but this poses a serious threat to the entire biosystem, from soil nutrition to human health. Deteriorating soil health results in lower crop yields, increased dependence on fertilizers, and increased water volume requirements for irrigation, all of which have negative impacts on farmer incomes.
“Earlier when rice harvesting was manual, crop residues were taken out from fields and farmers benefited from selling them,” explains M.L. Jat, principal scientist and systems agronomist at CIMMYT. “Later, when agriculture included more mechanical operations for harvesting with the increase in the production to the tune of millions of tons, crop residue became a hazard in terms of disposal that would involve huge money, labor, and logistics.”
Over the last two decades, a significant number of rural Bangladeshis – especially youth – have migrated to urban centers, looking for higher paying jobs and an escape from agricultural labor. Conor Riggs is the Global Director of Markets and Entrepreneurship at iDE. He says smallholder farmers in Southern Bangladesh are increasingly struggling to find and afford farm labor to help harvest crops and perform a variety of other on-farm activities.
Riggs says small-scale mechanization, such as two-wheeled tractors fitted with intensification machinery and surface irrigation pumps, can help farmers make up for this labor gap and increase productivity, while boosting the local economy by supporting micro- and small enterprises.
But as Riggs discussed at the recent Scale Up Conference at Purdue University, designing the perfect machine or technology is not enough to create sustainable, far-reaching impact. On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we’re following up with him to learn more about the role of markets and partnerships in bringing small-scale mechanization to rural Bangladesh.
Q: Five years ago, CIMMYT and iDE co-designed and began implementing the USAID Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia – Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) project. What were the goals when you began?
Our goal was to establish a new industry for attachments in two-wheel tractors in agricultural mechanization, technologies like seeders, reapers and high-volume irrigation pumps for surface water. We wanted to help farmers access services through a fee-for-service model – small entrepreneurs buy machines and rent out those machines to farmers or directly provide that service themselves. There wasn’t really a market naturally growing for these machines in ways that included smallholders while being commercially viable, so we aimed to build it as best we could.
The results of this effort to date have been strong: 191,000 farmers can now access machinery services from a growing network of nearly 3,000 local microenterprise service providers, representing improved cultivation across 92,000 hectares in Southern Bangladesh. And we see abundant evidence that this market is scaling organically now that it’s established a model that works for both firms and farms.
Q: How did you create a market?
We incentivized several large conglomerates in the agri-business space to co-invest with us on several container-loads of these machines, which we imported from Thailand and China. We helped them find some early adopter dealers and local service providers who would actually buy them. Then we developed short-term smart subsidies to drive down the costs of supply chain development, accelerated customer adoption of the machines, and overall market growth.
An important aspect of our strategy is that we did not present these accelerating investments as typical subsidies; rather, we worked with our private partners to offer commercial discounts so that service providers and farmers would recognize the true value of the product and the short-term opportunity to adopt the technology in its initial commercialization phase.
We first implemented this strategy with two leading firms in the market who concurrently launched a very proactive marketing campaign. Then we started pulling back those discounts overtime, year by year, as the initial partner firms found the market opportunity, and redirected this acceleration process with an additional group of interested companies that also wanted to enter the market in an inclusive manner.
Q: So the companies were benefiting from the discount?
Yes, but we created a lot of conditions. Essentially, the more project investment that was committed by the project to discount the cost of the machinery, the more we expected to see both cash and in-kind investment from those companies. In the end, about a dozen companies come into the game with about five that have really driven a lot of heavy investment.
Partnerships have been key throughout this project. What were the different strengths iDE and CIMMYT brought to the table?
iDE is a market development organization. We focus on market-based solutions, technology commercialization, last mile distribution, and market access. Fundamentally, we see our job as de-risking the market for companies to invest in lower income areas and empower the farmer and their family as both consumers and suppliers in the formal economy. To do this, we employ a lot of supply chain development, product re-design and most importantly, we develop networks of micro-entrepreneurs to serve the ‘missing middle’ between the formal and informal economies.
CIMMYT brings leading capabilities in linking science and practice, with an un-paralleled strength in understanding the agronomic rationale and the agronomic and economic combinations of the technologies as they’re applied on the ground.
CIMMYT knew what technologies were needed on the ground in Southern Bangladesh to genuinely improve productivity and efficiency in the face of changing economic circumstances, and understood how to apply them to real world conditions in alignment with market-based diffusion mechanisms. CIMMYT was also instrumental in working closely with the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) and extension services, key government partners that helped us ensure market development was in alignment with public and social policy.
It can be difficult finding a synergy between two different organizations. Did you run into any challenges?
CIMMYT and iDE have different specializations, and at the beginning, we had natural, friendly debates about how to best integrate them and achieve highly ambitious project objectives. But relatively quickly, we figured out how to learn from each other and synthesize our approaches for the best results. Both CIMMYT and iDE approached the partnership with a mission driven focus and a sense of constant, mutual respect for the value each partner brought to the table.
What do you see for the future?
As for iDE, we’re excited to expand this successful partnership with CIMMYT to figure out how we can further replicate this success in other countries where we both work. While some of the market conditions in Bangladesh have provided us with unique opportunities for technology scaling in mechanization, we’re highly optimistic that the underlying partnership principles and management systems of CSISA-MI can be replicated in other programs and country contexts – even in ostensibly more challenging market environments.
After receiving training from CIMMYT, this group of young men started a small business offering mechanized agricultural services to smallholder farmers near their town in rural Zimbabwe. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)
The sound of an engine roars as Gift Chawara, a 28-year-old from rural Zimbabwe, carefully removes a mesh bag bulging with maize grain hooked to his mechanized sheller. Fed with dried maize cobs, the sheller separates the grain from the shaft before shooting the kernels out the side into the awaiting bag. Chawara swiftly replaces the full bag with an empty one as the kernels continue to spill out.
It is eleven in the morning and the sun beats down over the small farm. Chawara and his friends have only been working a few hours and have already shelled 7 tons for their neighbor and customer Loveness Karimuno; thirteen more tons to go.
The widowed farmer watches as the bags of grain line up, ready for her to take to market. It used to take Karimuno two to three weeks to shell her maize harvest by hand, even with the help of hired labor. This grueling task saw her rub each maize ear on a rough surface to remove the grain from the shaft. Now, these young men and their mechanized sheller will do it in just a few hours for a small fee.
“When my neighbor told me the boys were shelling small amounts of maize at reasonable prices, I got in contact with them,” said Karimuno. “It’s cheaper than hiring people to help me do it manually and the speed means I can sell it faster.”
It used to take widowed farmer Loveness Karimuno (left) two or three weeks to shell her 20-ton maize harvest manually, even with the help of hired labor. Using mechanization services, all of her maize is shelled within a day, meaning she can take her grain to market faster. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)
The group of young entrepreneurs is serving almost 150 family farms around the village of Mwanga, located about two hours northwest of the capital Harare. They offer services such as shelling and planting, powered by special machinery. Since Chawara and his partners started the business three years ago, word has spread and now they are struggling to keep up with demand, he expressed.
Mechanized agricultural services have traditionally only been used by large-scale farmers who could afford the high prices, but small and medium-sized machines are fast becoming affordable options for family farmers through the advent of service providers, explained Frédéric Baudron, an agronomist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
The five young men are among the increasing number of youth across eastern and southern Africa creating a stable living as entrepreneurs in agricultural mechanization service provision, Baudron said.
Tired of the lack of profitable work in their rural community, the group of youths jumped on the opportunity to join a training on agricultural mechanization, run by CIMMYT. They heard about this training through local extension workers.
“We would probably be out of work if we hadn’t had the opportunity to learn how agricultural mechanization can be used to help smallholder farmers and gain skills to run our own business to provide these services,” Chawara expressed as he took a quick rest from shelling under a tree.
“It has really changed our lives. Last season we shelled over 300 tons of maize making just under US $7,000,” he said. “It has gone a long way in helping us support our families and invest back into our business.”
Masimba Mawire, 30, and Gift Chawara, 28, take a break from shelling and rest under a tree. The small car behind was bought by Chawara with his profits earned from the mechanization service business. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)
Chawara and his partners attended one of these trainings, hosted on the grounds of an agricultural technical college on the outskirts of Harare. For a week, they participated in practical courses led by local agriculture and business experts.
As part of the CIMMYT research project, the youth group paid a commitment fee and were loaned a planter and sheller to start their business, which they are now paying off with their profits.
Youth tend to be better at managing modern technologies and successfully take to service providing, said Baudron, who leads the FACASI project.
“We found consistently, in all countries where we work, that being a successful service provider is highly correlated to being young,” he highlighted. “However, other factors are also important, such as being entrepreneurial, educated, able to contribute to the cost of the machinery and preferably having an experience in similar businesses, particularly in mechanics.”
(From left to right) Shepard Kawiz, 24, gathers dried maize cobs into a bucket passing it to his brother Pinnot Karwizi, 26, who pours the maize into the sheller machine by feeding the hopper. The maize falls into the sheller’s barrel where high-speed rotation separates the grain from the cob. As the bare shafts are propelled out one side, Masimba Mawire, 30, is there to catch and dispose of them. Meanwhile, Gift Chawara, 28, is making sure a bag is securely hooked to the machine to collect the maize grain. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)
Mentoring and support are key to success
The young men operate like a well-oiled machine. Shepard Kawiz, 24, gathers dried maize cobs into a bucket and passes it to his brother Pinnot Karwizi, 26, who pours the maize into the sheller machine by feeding the hopper. The maize falls into the sheller’s barrel where high-speed rotation separates the grain from the cob. As bare shafts are propelled out one side, Masimba Mawire, 30, is there to catch and dispose of them. Meanwhile, Gift Chawara is making sure a bag is securely hooked to the machine to collect the maize grain.
Trials showed that when youth form a group and are provided guidance they are more inclined to succeed as service providers, explained CIMMYT agribusiness development specialist Dorcas Matangi.
“The group model works because they share the costs, the workload and they are more attractive to lenders when looking for investment capital,” she remarked.
Throughout the season, Mantangi works with local government extension workers and engineers from the University of Zimbabwe to mentor those starting out. They also organize meetings where service providers can gather to discuss challenges and opportunities.
“This is a good opportunity to iron out any problems with the machines, connect them with mechanics and spare part providers and we gain their feedback to improve the design of machinery,” she added.
Mechanization backs resilient farming systems
CIMMYT has provided a model to promote the use of agricultural mechanization among smallholder farmers through service providers, affirmed Misheck Chingozha, a mechanization officer with Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Agriculture.
Farm machinery helps farmers implement sustainable crop practices that benefit from greater farm power and precision,” he said. “This is in line with the government’s strategy to promote conservation agriculture – defined by minimal soil disturbance, crop residue retention and diversification through crop rotation and intercropping.”
CIMMYT promotes small-scale mechanization, such as two-wheel tractor-based technologies, including direct seeding planters that reduce labor and allow for improved resource allocation when implementing these practices, described CIMMYT’s Baudron.
Conservation agriculture is a sustainable intensification practice that seeks to produce more food, improve nutrition and livelihoods, and boost rural incomes without an increase in inputs – such as land and water – thus reducing environmental impacts.
With support from CIMMYT, students at the University of Zimbabwe are working to develop agricultural machinery fitted to the environmental conditions and needs of farmers in their country and other parts of Africa. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)
Students fuel next-generation machinery
As part of their degree, students at the University of Zimbabwe are working with CIMMYT to continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural machinery.
In a bid to improve the allocation of resources, agricultural engineering student Ronald Mhlanga, 24, worked on a prototype that uses sensors to monitor the amount of seed and fertilizer distributed by planters attached to two-wheel tractors. The device sends information to the driver if anything goes off course, helping farmers improve precision and save resources.
“Often planters will get clogged with mud blocking seeding. The sensors identify this and send a signal to the driver,” said Mhlanga. “This allows the driver to focus on driving and limits wasted resources.”
Learning from farmer feedback and working with agricultural engineers and the private sector, CIMMYT is building agricultural mechanization suited to the needs and conditions of sub-Saharan African farms, concluded Baudron.
ROME — A new training manual is set to provide practical guidance for agricultural mechanization entrepreneurs in rural areas, where family farmers commonly lack capital to invest in the farm power required to increase food production.
The five-module training manual targeted at farm mechanization hire service providers, including youth and women, was developed by researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and official launched July 13 at FAO’s Rome headquarters.
Bedilu Desta, an agricultural mechanization service provider, demonstrates a two-wheel tractor. (Photo: Frédéric Baudron/CIMMYT)
It sets out a syllabus which trainers can tailor to local environments to equip entrepreneurs with essential business skills and knowledge to promote appropriate mechanization farmers need to sustainably intensify production, said Josef Kienzle, an agricultural engineer at FAO.
The manual will initially be rolled out in sub-Saharan African rural communities where improved access to agricultural mechanization is crucial, he said.
Small-scale mechanization, such as two-wheel tractor based technologies including direct seed planters, represent a shift away from destructively intensive agriculture. However, the decline of hire tractor schemes means resource-poor farmers often lack the financial means to obtain them, said Bruno Gerard, director of CIMMYT’s sustainable intensification program.
“To increase the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of their farms, family farmers need greater access to affordable yield-enhancing inputs. Hire service providers can improve access to mechanization that reduces labor drudgery and promotes sustainable intensification practices,” he said.
Sustainable intensification seeks to produce more food, improve nutrition and livelihoods, and boost rural incomes without an increase in inputs – such as land and water – thus reducing environmental impacts.
“Inclusive mechanization strategies create an enabling environment and provide a framework for making decisions on how to allocate resources, how to address current challenges, how to take advantage of opportunities that arise while in the meantime emphasize the concept of sustainable crop intensification and the roles of the private and public sectors,” said Kienzle. Farm machinery enables farmers to adopt sustainable crop production intensification practices – such as conservation agriculture – that benefit from greater farm power and precision.
The manual will be initially distributed and courses organized through FAO and CIMMYT field projects in sub-Saharan Africa utilizing local trainers and experts in machinery and agribusiness, he said. The manual is expected to be rolled out to other subregional offices and hubs in the future.
Clara Chikuni has gained a reliable income since becoming a mechanization service provider and offering maize shelling in her local area. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)
Clara Chikuni, a mother from rural Zimbabwe, has secured a stable income after starting her own mechanized shelling business two years ago. Servicing maize farmers in a 5 kilometer radius of her home, Chikuni has more customers than she says she can handle and has developed reliable employment compared to her previous job buying and selling shoes.
“There is a lot of demand for mechanized maize shelling services. I am happy I can provide a service to the community and make money to support my family,” she said. “I hope with the profits I can move into the two wheel tractor business in the future.”
“The training and support gave me the know-how and confidence to start my business,” said the mother. “Other women now ask me how I did it and I encourage them to also get involved.”
There is a market for farming mechanization services that can make a big difference for a smallholder farm and help it transition from subsistence farming to a more market-oriented farming enterprise, said FAO’s Kienzle.
Apart from hire services, mechanization creates additional opportunities for new business with repair and maintenance of equipment, sales and dealership of related businesses including transport and agro-processing along the value chain.
The knowledge and expertise of both CIMMYT and FAO combined has made this manual unique and very praxis oriented, focused on smallholder mechanization businesses, he said.
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