Brussels, 15^th February 2022 – European Manufacturers of Agricultural Machinery, reunited in the CEMA Board of Directors, called today on EU leaders to mainstream Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa, as part of the upcoming discussions in the 6^th EU Union – African Union Summit. The summit will be taking place in Brussels on 17^th and 18^th February 2022 and will be the basis to launch a renewed AU-EU partnership.

Agriculture and sustainable development will be crucial topics of debate during the two-days high level event. In this framework, CEMA underlines the role that mechanization can and should play to ensure food security and to boost the sustainability of agricultural practices.

CEMA calls on leaders to promote tailored, inclusive, and integrated approaches to agricultural mechanization, which have the ability to make a significant difference in increasing the welfare of farm households and create positive dynamics and opportunities for economic growth in rural areas. Sustainable mechanization, applying different forms of skills, power sources (from manual to engine) and equipment along the agri-food value chain, can meet the specific needs of local farming communities, improving productivity and competitiveness as highlighted in CEMA’s Position Paper “Promoting Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa”.

Since 2015 CEMA has an ongoing partnership with FAO, to manage and disseminate knowledge on sustainable approaches to agricultural mechanization, as well as jointly develop technical programmes to support innovation in mechanization and facilitate the implementation of sustainable mechanization initiatives at the field level.

ABOUT CEMA

CEMA aisbl (www.cema-agri.org) is the association representing the European agricultural machinery industry. With 11 national member associations, the CEMA network represents both large multinational companies and numerous European SMEs active in this sector. The industry includes about 7,000 manufacturers, producing more than 450 different machine types and generating an aggregated annual turnover of about EUR 40 billion. 150,000 people are directly employed in the sector, with a further 125,000 people working in distribution and maintenance.