published on Rural 21 07.03.2017
Mechanisation can prove to be a very difficult venture, especially in the context of smallholders. The German Development Institute, together with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, organised an expert round table on “Agricultural mechanisation and adapted financial solutions". Mechanisation requires special financial products and support packages because is is expensive and beyond the means of most smallholder farmers. These complexities may explain why in Latin America and in parts of Asia mechanisation has made huge advances, while in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), hardly any progress has been made. On the contrary, there are indications of retrogression. In several presentations and group work lessons learned from Germany and developing countries were gathered and discussed how to advance mechanisation finance in SSA.