Africa’s population is expected to reach around 1.7 billion by 2030.*2 With a large number of young people, Africa’s age distribution forms a beautiful pyramid shape. This youthful population is why Africa is referred to as the “continent of the future,” and why many are pinning their hopes on future growth in this region. In recent years, the demand for food here has increased dramatically due to rapid population growth, but agricultural production has not been able to keep up with this demand, partly because of the slow introduction of machinery. When considering the stable supply of food for Africa and, by extension, the rest of the world, it is easy to see how contributions to the development of agriculture in Africa would be hugely significant.
Africa has a wide variety of climates and topographies, and each region has its own unique agricultural practices. In recent years in particular, the production of rice has been increasing.*3 In the past, rice farming in Africa was performed entirely by hand, which meant hard work and low efficiency. Today, productivity has been improved through the introduction of walk-behind tillers. However, in order to meet the rapidly increasing demand for food, there is a need for even more advanced agricultural machinery so as to further improve productivity and efficiency.
Kubota’s first foray into Africa was in the second half of the 1970s. Our strategy was to contribute to the increase of food production in Africa by gradually encouraging the use of agricultural machinery according to the agricultural conditions of each country and growing hand-in-hand with farmers. Taking Tanzania as an example, we started business operations here in the 1980s. At that time, rice cultivation was performed completely by hand. The first step was to survey the situation rather than trying to introduce agricultural machinery all at once. We listened directly to the farmers and held a series of meetings with local staff. Then, through a total support system including services, we steadily promoted the uptake of technology in a step-by-step fashion. Maintenance was a particularly difficult issue. Due in part to a lack of knowledge among local farmers, agricultural machinery was not being handled properly. In response, we worked hard to provide detailed explanations on maintenance. As a result, the farmers were pleased as problems such as breakdowns were solved, and costs were reduced. Furthermore, we collected information on Africa from our site in Kenya, Kubota Kenya Limited, established in 2017. Based on analysis of this information, we are building a sales network for agricultural machinery, and are also conducting demonstrations of power tillers in various locations to promote the spread of agricultural machinery. In this way, Kubota is steadily working to help improve food productivity in Africa and enrich people’s lives.