An Intalian firm has partnered with government to offer state-of-the-art equipment and innovative technology for the development of agricultural business markets in Cameroon.

Cameroon has adopted mechanized agriculture to revolutionalise the sector that employs over 80 per cent of its population. Mechanized agriculture uses machinery to carry out farming, greatly increasing productivity.

Powered machinery has replaced many activities formerly carried out by manual labour. This is just what government wants, but making it reality is what is seemingly difficult and time-consuming.

The National Centre for Studies and Experimentation on Agricultural Machinery, CENEEMA, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is government’s initiative to revolutionalise agriculture.

The centre trains farmers on the use of heavy and light agricultural machines like tractors, harrows, fertilizer appliers, ploughs and maize planters. The structure has however been in ruins, stalling mechanized agriculture.

Government is revamping the centre sequel to the complete overhaul of second-generation agriculture. But this is seemingly not enough, especially at a time government, with the financial support of the World Bank, is implementing a 50 billion FCFA Agriculture Investment and Market Development Project, PIDMA, with cooperatives as beneficiaries.

The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between government, through the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Higher Education, with the Defino & Giancaspro, an Italian firm that specializes in the manufacturing of agricultural equipment for the latter to offer innovative technology on food processing, is one of such efforts to revolutionalise the sector.

The MoU was signed on June 30, 2016, to design a centre for prototyping and manufacturing agricultural equipment.

The Advanced School of Engineering, Yaounde, has been chosen as the host institution. The Italian firm would provide guidance on agricultural processing units, equipment and accessories. The company is offering innovative technology in food processing through user-friendly machines, Nicola Giancaspro, the Chief Executive Officer of Defino & Giancaspro stated.

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Henri Eyebe Ayissi, said the technology transfer agreement was a stitch in time. The partnership agreement comes at a time government has embarked on adding value to its food crops through processing.