Capital Equipment News September 2015

COMMENT

Mechanisation – the path to sustainability in Africa

T ransportation plays a crucial role in the sustainable development of rural areas and small communities. Wheth- er building and planning pedestrian orien- tated main roads in small towns to stimulate economic development or improving public transportation infrastructure to enhance the movement of goods or access to jobs, transportation literally binds a community together. Payloads and kilometres travelled have a significant impact on ownership costs. Tare and allowable mass are the determining fac- tors. Transport efficiency is about optimising payloads, average speed and kilometres travelled. How we use transport has far more impact than just how much we need to pay for the components of transport and is severely compromised by the impact of many un- controllable factors. For many agricultural commodities and low value added manufacturers, the cost of transport represents a substantial proportion of total product costs. One study has indi- cated that in developing countries, transport costs typically account for between 10 % and 30 % of final product price. With this in mind it would be correct to as- sume that, when referring to transport in agriculture, trucks would spring immediately to mind as the obvious method of moving

economic infrastructure of many an African nation. Large populations in Africa need to be lifted out of poverty and steered towards sustainability. Mechanisation seems the only short term solution for encouraging ru- ral populations to sustain themselves. To a large extent, China is providing the means for countries to reach those objectives and, having already cornered its domestic market with vehicles and construction equipment, is now poised for its assault on the export markets. There are limitations with Chinese equip- ment and vehicles in that they are uncom- petitive in some markets because they can- not meet the emission standards. This will not be the case in time to come as more and more technology is incorporated into the vehicles and equipment as a result of the JVs, which most Chinese manufacturers have entered into with European and Ameri- can manufacturers. Many of the world’s major manufacturers have their sights set on Africa as is evident by the support that Bauma Conexpo Africa 2015 has received to date. But is Africa, with its turmoil, prepared to embrace the mecha- nisation technology available to raise the bar to improve sustainable development?

goods. The capital outlay required to acquire a vehicle would rate as the highest expense element of the purchase with the running and maintenance costs also high on then expenses list. The transport industry has been fortunate in the past few years with the introduction of Chinese manufactured brands into the market. In so doing, they have filled a niche market for economical and easy to maintain vehicles and construction type equipment. Not all the vehicles are suitable for every application but some brands, with their tech- nical attributes, have proven themselves in certain applications. Mechanisation, in agriculture today is a key driver to sustainable development in food production. Mechanisation, however, is not only restricted to food production but also to the application of mechanical technology, largely as a means of enhancing the produc- tivity of human labour and often to achieve results well beyond the capacity of human labour. Farm power in African agriculture relies to an overwhelming extent on human muscle; power based on operations that depend on the hoe and other hand tools which, in a way, places limitations on productivity. It is a well known fact that China is in the forefront of development on the African con- tinent, having contributed favourably to the

Pierre Sanson

Editor

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS SEPTEMBER 2015 2