Agriculture is crucial to Africa’s development, but the sector is performing well below its potential. Today, about 60 percent of Africa’s population depends on agriculture for jobs and livelihoods, yet its contribution to the gross domestic product was a paltry 21 percent in 2016. While Africa has the highest area of uncultivated arable land (202 million ha) in the world, which is about 50 percent of the global total, its productivity lags far behind other developing regions.

The African Union Commission (AUC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) view agricultural mechanization in Africa as an urgent matter and an indispensable pillar for attaining the Zero Hunger vision by 2025, as stated in the Malabo Declaration of 2014, Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Prosperous Africa We Want, as indicated in Agenda 2063.

Doubling agricultural productivity and eliminating hunger and malnutrition in Africa by 2025 will be no more than a mirage unless mechanization is accorded utmost importance. The prerequisites for attaining these laudable objectives are enhancing access to mechanization services, improving access to quality and affordable inputs, such as seed and fertilizer, and delivering efficient water resource management systems including irrigation.