AGCO Opens First Future Farm in Zambia
27 Maggio 2015 - 4:19PM
Business Wire
AGCO (NYSE: AGCO), a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of
agricultural equipment, today held an official opening ceremony of
its Future Farm and Learning Center near Lusaka, Zambia. “We are
very pleased to announce the grand opening of our first Future Farm
in Africa,” said Rob Smith, AGCO Senior Vice President and General
Manager for Europe, Africa and Middle East. “Africa has tremendous
growth potential in the agricultural equipment sector and our
mission on the African Continent is to provide agricultural
solutions for all African farmers. The Future Farm will help to
empower local communities to develop a sustainable food production
system and to increase farm productivity by implementing modern
farming techniques.”
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Photo: Tom Welke, Senior Vice President,
Global Grain and Protein, GSI; Honorable Given Lubinda MP,
Agriculture and Livestock Minister, Zambia; Rob Smith, Senior Vice
President, General Manager, Europe, Africa and Middle East at
opening ceremony of AGCO’s Future Farm and Learning Center near
Lusaka, Zambia. (left to right) (Photo: AGCO)
AGCO’s Future Farm vision is to support sustainable food
production systems and increase farm output by using agricultural
resources more efficiently. The 150-hectare farm is divided into a
wide range of demonstration crop areas all cultivated, planted and
harvested using AGCO’s full-line of agricultural equipment, and
with support from commercial and not for profit partners from
across the value chain. Its facilities will include a
state-of-the-art Mechanization Learning Center as well as a Grain
and Poultry Learning Center, each a first of its kind for Africa.
“As Africa’s population is set to rise to two billion by 2050, the
need for inclusive, sustainable mechanization and training, and to
inspire the next generation to move into agriculture has never been
greater,” explains Rob Smith. On AGCO’s Future Farm, those
supporting small to medium scale farmers with limited access to
modern farming practices will benefit from a range of training
courses from basic agronomy, post-harvest solutions and
mechanization. Training on best practice for protein production,
grain storage and precision farming technologies will target the
needs of large-scale commercial farming. “For us, inclusive,
sustainable mechanization means designing our products with Africa
in mind. It means building our products on the continent and
supporting our products and customers locally with parts from our
new logistics center in Johannesburg. It means providing local
farmers with education in core agricultural practices and training
operators, mechanics as well as our local dealers on how to
operate, service and maintain agricultural equipment,” adds Rob
Smith.
Mechanization is the critical ingredient to raising agricultural
productivity in Africa although other constraints are slowing the
speed of progress and need to be tackled in parallel. Factors
include inadequate access to and use of improved seed, the right
blends of fertilizers; the need for favorable trade and land
policies; quality post-harvest management solutions and functional
markets for harvested crops. “Perhaps one of our greatest
achievements to-date in the short time we have been in Zambia is to
bring together such an impressive set of Future Farm Partners,”
states Nuradin Osman, Director of Operations, Africa and Middle
East. “What we are launching in Zambia is about more than just
bricks and mortar, it’s about people and partnerships and with the
right people and the right partnerships, the possibilities are
endless.” Providing employment, training on new skills and
increasing incomes, the Future Farm is expected to have a direct
impact on the local community.
At the moment, approximately 200 people are living in the
community on the farm. The initiative employs 40 workers and,
through a 4H enterprise gardens project, around 60 children enjoy
gardening classes on the land. In 2015, the cropped areas cover 70
hectares and the crops harvested are maize, soybean, sunn hemp,
orange maize, ground nuts, cassava, sorghum, cowpea and
sunflower.
About AGCO
AGCO (NYSE: AGCO) is a global leader in the design,
manufacture and distribution of agricultural equipment.
AGCO supports more productive farming through a full line of
tractors, combines, hay tools, sprayers, forage equipment, grain
storage and protein production systems, seeding and tillage
implements and replacement parts. AGCO products are sold
through five core equipment brands, Challenger®, Fendt®, GSI®,
Massey Ferguson® and Valtra® and are distributed globally through a
combination of approximately 3,100 independent dealers and
distributors in more than 140 countries. Founded in
1990, AGCO is headquartered in Duluth, GA, USA. In
2014, AGCO had net sales of $9.7 billion. For more information,
visit http://www.AGCOcorp.com. For financial news, information and
events, follow us on twitter #AGCOIR.
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AGCORebecca Fabian,
+1-646-415-8518Rebecca.Fabian@instinctif.com
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