The Tractor Factor - Ploughing a Road Out of Poverty.

Increasing the contribution of tractors to the development of agriculture and rural infrastructure in the Third World was the topical theme for the lively second annual seminar on Engineering in Agricultural and Rural Development. This early evening event held in November at the imposing headquarters of the ICE in Great George Street, Westminster was organised jointly by the Tropical Agriculture Association, the Overseas Development Specialist Group of the IAgrE, the Appropriate Development Panel of the ICE . Over fifty members came along to hear invited speakers from Zimbabwe, Thailand and the UK; to browse on the poster displays by manufacturers and to participate in the lively discussion that followed.

The advanced modern agricultural systems in developed countries depend almost totally on highly sophisticated tractors and machinery and a tiny labour force. By contrast in developing countries large numbers of people depend entirely on agricultural work for their survival and agricultural tractors are generally more basic and only provide a small proportion of total farm power requirements. The small farm size, short working season, high capital investment required, high cost of finance and low annual utilisation are some of the factors that limit the cost-effectiveness of tractors as a robust, highly flexible, mobile power source. It has meant that small farmers (the majority) in developing countries have so far been denied access to this versatile farm power source. Making the technology more affordable depends in part on spreading the investment ‘load’ such that tractors can achieve a higher level of utilisation and reduce the unit cost of ownership. In typical rain-fed small farm systems in developing countries utilisation rates for tractors used only for agricultural tasks and some transport may be 200 or 300 hrs per year or less even with multi-farm (or contract hire) opportunities. Economically viable utilisation rates under these circumstances may require two or three times this figure.

Fortunately there are many other important rural infrastructural development tasks that can also benefit from the application of the agricultural tractor. Rural road maintenance and construction, rural structures and buildings, water pumping, mobile generators and compressors, earthmoving and excavation, sinking wells and boreholes, lifting and transporting goods and materials, agro-forestry operations, and many other services requiring a mobile power source. This presents the prospect of higher utilisation and increased viability for tractor owners, lower cost infrastructure for rural communities, flourishing rural service enterprises, increased income generation and employment opportunities and improved sustainability of rural livelihoods for poor people.

Under the Chairman, Rob Petts of Intech Associates excellent presentations by the three speakers dealt with the key aspects of the role of tractors as a robust, flexible, mobile power source for agricultural and rural infrastructure development - the theme for the evening. Kingstone Gongera, Chief Engineer (Roads) of the District Development Fund in Harare, Zimbabwe described the maintenance system he manages for over 25000 km of rural roads using labour intensive methods complemented by the use of tractors and locally made equipment. The ambitious target in Zimbabwe is that no one should live more than 10km from a maintained road. Gajendra Singh, Professor of Agricultural Engineering at the Asian Institute of Technology, then gave a fascinating insight into the booming tractor manufacturing industry in India and a detailed account of the history of its growth since the 1940's. He concluded with illustrations of the many agricultural and non-agricultural tasks for which tractors are used in India and other parts of South East Asia.

Malcolm Cutler, Managing Director of FSC Development Services Ltd., then completed the picture with a thought provoking description of the crucial financial, business management and enterprise development aspects. He emphasised the importance of creating opportunities for employment and income generation and of equity of access to the benefits of appropriate technologies such as tractors as well as the ultimate aim of eliminating poverty. He provided a useful checklist of the requirements for launching sustainable business enterprises, such as those involving the provision of tractor services, as part of the improvement to rural infrastructure and services. He concluded with a challenging proposal for donors to consider a public/private partnership approach to the problem. In his summing up Derek Sutton, Agricultural Engineering Adviser, Department for International Development concluded the evening by reminding us that the mention of tractors in some international development circles still causes a variety of often negative reactions. This is partly based on the legacy of some bad highly publicised experiences several decades ago that resulted in the infamous 'machinery graveyards' in West Africa and elsewhere and partly on a poor understanding of the very positive aspects of using this type of technology in rural development. The form of ownership and use of such technologies is crucial both to realise the full potential of the technology and just as important - to avoid the negative social, employment and equity aspects.

Harry Ferguson and Henry Ford would have been well pleased!

DHS

4Aug2000