The Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC) traveled to Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso to launch the Appropriate Scale Mechanization Innovation Hub at the Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso.
Farmers, manufacturers, researchers, students and government officials joined the ASMC for a two-day workshop on mechanization on May 30-31, 2016. The workshop and field visits to local farms allowed the ASMC team to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities of mechanization in Burkina Faso and helped to identify specific interventions to improve the livelihoods of Burkinabe farmers.
These Innovation Hubs are critical facilities for knowledge sharing and capacity building for the ASMC to identify, develop and test appropriate scale mechanization by engaging in participatory research with farmers. Once up and running, the Hubs will host hands-on workshops as well as provide entrepreneurship training for production development and scaling.
In collaboration with the local stakeholders, the ASMC aims to introduce multifunctional and modular mechanized technologies that are technically, environmentally and economically appropriate for smallholder farmers through appropriate scale mechanization. This will improve land and labor productivity in a sustainable manner, considering the social, economic and environmental impacts with a special focus on the role of empowering women via the innovation hubs.
