Agricultural machinery manufacturing can contribute to driving overall manufacturing, given the large number of gradually mechanizing African farms and the rapidly growing agro-food processing sector.
This paper examines the characteristics, opportunities and challenges of local agricultural machinery manufacturers in Africa based on a survey among randomly chosen manufacturers in Benin, Kenya, Mali and Nigeria.
The results show that local manufacturers have comparative advantages related to the ability to develop locally adapted machinery. It also shows that markets for local machinery have emerged in Africa, driven by small but dedicated entrepreneurs.