Making A Difference In Africa

Crop cultivation in sub-Saharan Africa is still largely carried out by hand. A Free State-based inventor is seeking to change that with his range of remarkable equipment.

- Joe Spencer

According to a report by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization, the tractors in use in Africa are concentrated in just a few countries, and more than half of these machines are in South Africa.

In fact, about 80% of primary land preparation in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, relies entirely on human muscle power, with draught animals used for 15% and tractors for the remaining 5%. By contrast, in Asia, 60% of the land is cultivated by tractor.

One person who has tried to mitigate this problem, which affects food security, is Michris Janse van Rensburg.

Janse van Rensburg entered the farm machinery business almost by accident. Ten years ago, he experienced problems with a cutworm infestation in an otherwise healthy crop of maize on his farm near Bultfontein in the Free State. He decided to fill in the many gaps left in the rows by sowing individual seeds by hand. This proved to be a backbreaking task. Early in the morning the seeds went in at the right depth and spacing, but by lunchtime they were being planted any old way!

AN EASIER SOLUTION