The Ghanaian government’s vision for agriculture is ambitious yet achievable with the right mix of expertise, technology, and machinery. As a critical economic area, a resilient and productive agricultural value chain would have a transformational impact on growth, job creation, and living standards in the country.
In Italy, Ghana has a trusted and ready partner for its aggressive drive to modernize and reshape the agricultural sector through the extensive deployment of machinery and tech-based agro innovations. In fact, a growing number of Ghanaian entrepreneurs are turning to Made in Italy technology, reckoning the competitive advantage it brings thanks to its features in terms of quality, reliability, and technical assistance. Consequently, the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), the government agency which champions Italian companies and investments abroad, has sought to establish the right linkages and partnerships at both policy and business-to-business (B2B) levels to boost agribusiness development in both countries.
Mechanized agriculture has long been a stronghold of Italy, with a number of the global names in the production and supply of agribusiness inputs, machinery, and technologies being Italian brands. To link up these companies with the firms along Ghana’s agribusiness value chain, ITA on 22nd June 2021 will organize virtual B2B meetings between Italian and Ghanaian agribusiness companies under the Ghana-Italy Agribusiness Digital Lab project. The meetings will be hosted on a dedicated portal, https://ghana-italy.digital.ice.it, where interested Ghanaian agribusiness firms can register for participation.
The Italian companies specializing in agricultural mechanization that will take part in the B2B meetings are as follows:
The BCS Group
The BCS Group is a leading multinational company in the mechanization industry that designs and manufactures machinery for agriculture and greens maintenance, represented by the commercial brands BCS, FERRARI, PASQUALI, and MA.TRA. and machines for producing autonomous electricity and welding units, represented by the brand MOSA.
Its headquarters near Milan, BCS is a global brand leveraging its business strategy of internationalization and expansion. The success of this strategy has seen the business consolidations leading position in the countries where it has gained great experience and also expand into developing countries with greater needs for technology and mechanization.
Today, the company boasts of over 1,000 dealers and retailers throughout the world, and over 300 importers in all the continents.
Metalmont
Metalmont is an Italian engineering, manufacturing, and marketing company. Metalmont manufactures equipment for the mechanization of cereal storage plants (silo and flat warehouses).
Metalmont products include machines for the handling cereals like wheat, soya, pulses, paddy rice, cocoa and coffee beans, and many other agricultural bulk materials. Moreover, it produces materials for post-harvesting cleaning as well as high technology automation solutions for the mechanization of flat warehouses.
Currently exporting to many countries across Europe, Middle East, and some African countries, the company is known for its tailor-made solutions and readiness to partner with local companies in the establishment of new businesses.
To the Ghanaian farmer, Metalmont offers cost-effective solutions to mechanize cereal production and storage, helping to reduce post-harvest losses.
Selvatici
Selvatici is a 52-year-old company that produces high technology tools for intensive and high productivity in agriculture.
The company is specialized in the production of agricultural machinery for soil preparation, such as spading machines, double spading machines, post-hole diggers with augers both mechanical and hydraulic for backhoes, and rear scrapers.
In addition, there is a line for professional gardening, including aerators and sand spreaders.
Recently, new tools have been introduced in the range, such as spading machines for two-wheel tractors, stone buriers, and bed formers.
In addition to being very well known at the national level, the company has developed an excellent sales network abroad which currently accounts for more than half of its turnover, and it can also guarantee an efficient spare parts service for years.
Tonelli Group SpA
Tonelli Group SpA manufactures a full range of mixers and processing plants for the processing of food in the patisserie, confectionery, and baking industries.
With a strong commitment to standards and quality, the company has internal food technologists and laboratories that work with customers to fine-tune new recipes.
Tonelli’s expertise would be a huge boost to Ghana’s food processing and baking industries.
Grillo SpA
Grillo SpA offers green and eco-sensitive agricultural solutions. Founded in 1953, the company manufactures professional machines for agriculture and green maintenance. It has 5 production plants located in Cesena, Italy. It manufactures and distributes more than 20,000 machines every year across the world.
Ma/Ag SRL
Ma/Ag SRL was established in 1976 to explore winning and alternative solutions to the needs of mechanized agriculture, especially in the provision of ploughing equipment.
The company produces innovative machinery for conservative agriculture, with the aim to grant high productivity levels, cost reduction, and always decreasing impact on the environment.
It has a branch that is devoted to the production of planters and has the capacity to design, produce and sell its entire product range with wide market coverage in both Europe and non-European countries across the globe.
Urbinati Srl
Urbinati Srl designs and manufactures modular systems for the automation and mechanization of horticultural, forest, and floral nurseries.
Founded in 1978 by Nino Urbinati, the company has the vision of seeing “automation and mechanization in all nurseries in the world” and currently exports to over 95 countries, with a network of more than 50 official distributors worldwide.
Urbinati SrI proposes customized technical solutions for nurseries for the following phases: sowing, automatic and manual transplanting, filling—pots and trays—irrigation, germination, trays washing, handling, labeling, and trimming.
NARDI Srl
NARDI Srl has been manufacturing agricultural implements since 1895 and has a mission to produce implements for modern and professional agriculture.
Its strengths include a comprehensive product range (mouldboard plough, disc ploughs, cultivators, disc harrows, rotary-hoes, mechanical seed drills, and vacuum planter, fertilizer spreader, boom sprayer, mist blowers, etc.) for a wide range of HP tractor (30-600+); quality and reliability of the implements; extensive sales network, customer support, training, and spare parts service; participation in integrated agricultural mechanization and agronomic best practices projects; and 90 years of experience in Africa.
NARDI SrI also boasts of important supplies to the governments of various countries, collaboration with important institutions like the FAO, UNIDO, ICARDA, and production of the Delfino3s plow for the fight against erosion and desertification.
Zanin F.lli Srl
Zanin F.lli SrI designs and develops machines and systems such as cleaners, dryers, conveyors, and storage systems for the industrial food farming sector.
With more than 60 years of quality and experience, the company designs and builds highly specialized solutions and systems for the food industry. It has always been ahead of the times and prides itself on keeping environmental sustainability at the forefront of its approach to design.
All the above companies will showcase their expertise and technologies, as well as explore potential business relationships with Ghanaian agro-related enterprises, during the Ghana-Italy Agribusiness Digital Lab on June 22. However, it is a great opportunity for Ghana’s agribusiness sector to ride on for mechanization transformation.
