New Holland committed to Africa

The mechanisation of African agriculture is one of the most crucial challenges of our time, claims New Holland brand president Carlo Lambro, who reckons winning this challenge means not only guaranteeing food self-sufficiency, but also work, peace and development for millions of people and future generations. Speaking at the first Italy-Africa ministerial conference in Rome, Mr Lambro disclosed a few details about New Holland in Africa today. Active in 34 African countries, with 24 distributors and 265 sales outlets, the company currently delivers around 5,000 tractors every year to African farmers. The concern has invested over US$50 million in new products for African farmers during the past three years, one result of this being the new TT4 tractor. The brand president also stressed the urgency to find ways to bring small African producers together so they are able to exit subsistence farming. The current average size of an African farm of 1.3ha, compares to 14.7ha in Europe, 50.7ha in Latin America and 186ha in North America. According to Mr Lambro, the 46 tractors currently working every 100sq.km of cultivable land in Africa compares to an average of 653 in Europe.