In his speech, Mr. Lambro, who is a member of the Group Executive Council of CNH Industrial, first pointed out CNH Industrial's commitment to promote both economic development and environmental sustainability on a global level as well as the circular economy, which is a new industrial model that focuses on the reduction of energy consumption, the increased use of renewable sources, the responsible management of natural resources, the reduction in the production of scrap, waste and emissions and the extension of the useful life of products and components.
| Carlo Lambro |
Mr. Lambro explained what New Holland has done in favour of sustainability in agriculture, with particular reference to the Clean Energy Leader strategy, which is celebrating 10 years of activities and successes in the promotion of renewable fuel, emission reduction systems as well as sustainable and precision farming.
The Brand President then provided some important data regarding the brand in Africa. As the number one Brand among all western producers, New Holland operates in 34 African countries, with 24 distributors and 265 sales outlets. Thanks to its widespread presence, New Holland delivers approx. 5,000 tractors every year, with a relevant market share on a continental level.
Faithful to its tradition as a specialist, New Holland produces and distributes customised tractors and agricultural equipment for multiple African farms, making them able to resist the often very extreme climatic conditions. Simple and intuitive to use, they are efficient from a consumption point of view and produce low-levels of pollution yet achieve high levels of productivity. This equipment makes it possible to create a targeted agricultural mechanisation, which defends the cultivated soil, increases the yield, makes best use of the available resources and drastically decreases waste.
For the development of its products, New Holland has invested more than 50 million dollars over the past 3 years, which made it possible to implement, for example, the new TT4 tractor. This robust and extremely versatile machine, which is simple to use and very reliable, includes many features designed to increase productivity, with a low operating cost and a very convenient price.
Mr. Lambro recalled how one of the strengths of the Brand in Africa is the continuous training of people, and mentioned a series of projects that are in progress in Kenya, Uganda, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan and South Africa, relative to training for personnel at the dealers and for the operators of the agricultural equipment, as well as the creation of local assembly centres.
46 tractors at work every 100 square kilometres of cultivable land in comparison to an average of 653 in Europe. Farms have an average size of 1.3 hectares, in comparison to 14.7 in Europe, 50.7 in Latin America and 186 hectares in North America. These numbers regarding African agriculture cited by Mr. Lambro stress how urgent it is to increase mechanisation as well as to identify a method for bringing together the small producers so they are able to finally exit the cycle of family farming that is dedicated to self-consumption for subsistence.
Mr. Lambro concluded his speech by mentioning a series of social actions targeted towards increasing agricultural productivity in various areas of the African continent, the most recent of which has New Holland and CNH Industrial committed, within the scope of a cooperation agreement signed recently with FAO, to provide support for three years to a project for sustainable water management in the governorship of Kebili in Tunisia. This project involves building and repairing traditional water collection systems, creating vegetable gardens for families, improving pastoral activities and creating orchards as well as new wooded areas.
“The mechanisation of African agriculture is one of the most crucial challenges of our time. Winning it means not only guaranteeing food self-sufficiency, but also work, peace and development for millions of people and future generations” declared Mr. Lambro at the end of the conference. “Thanks to our firmly established presence in Africa, the widespread coverage of our network, the specialisation of our equipment and the optimal relationships we have established over time with the local populations, we at New Holland are fully capable and firmly determined to contribute in a significant manner towards making African agriculture a model of productivity and sustainability in the near future”.
