Hundreds of high-profile participants from across the East African agricultural sector

• Focus on the region's current and future challenges to encourage collaboration and drive innovation
• Case IH is ready to support growing needs with powerful technologies and a strong network
  

Case IH, Toyota Tsusho East Africa Ltd. and the local dealer Toyota Tanzania Ltd  sponsored the second Agribusiness Congress East Africa that took place on January 28th and 29th in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Hosted by the Agricultural Council of Tanzania, the Congress brought together the main actors of the agricultural sector in East Africa, including government authorities, key decision makers, corporate farms, and industry suppliers. The conference, along with a concurrent exhibition, served as an important, international platform for sharing knowledge, promoting advanced technologies and for discussion on the region's current challenges and future outlook.

The high-level profile of the event was further highlighted by the participation of the Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal, who gave a welcome speech during the opening session, the Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Eng. Christopher Chiza, and the Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Development, Dr. Titus Kamani Mlengeya.

Case IH's sponsorship reflected the company's strong commitment to support the agribusiness sector growth in East Africa. "We are very pleased with the lively interest we received during the event," said Patrice Loiseleur, Case IH International Agriculture Projects and Corporate Farming Manager, who attended the congress and the expo. "It gave us the opportunity to present our global company, its diversified product ranges and the premium support offered by our local partnership with Toyota Tsusho.East Africa" in conjunction with Toyota Tanzania Ltd

" Working with our distributor Toyota  we aimed to further position ourselves as a valuable partner for farmers and large-scale farming projects in the East African markets in their accelerated path toward agricultural development and mechanization," added Marco Raimondo, Case IH Business Director for Africa and the Middle East.

A closer look at the sector's current and future challenges

The two day event was successfully attended by nearly 250 agricultural experts who discussed the most pressing issues for the region's blossoming agribusiness sector.

Driven by a growing population, Africa's demands for food will drastically increase in the upcoming years. This is particularly true for Tanzania where the population is expected to triple in the next 35 years. Consequently, agriculture is required to pursue higher productivity through the adoption of innovative farming practices and technologies.

"Africa is the world's most developing market for the agricultural business," said Raimondo. "Especially in Tanzania agriculture has a big potential for growth and it is expected to be one of the most important market in East Africa in the next few years."

"Case IH is fully focused to providing Tanzania and East Africa with all the support needed by their growing agriculture sector," added Loiseleur. "Our company is ready to offer the best agricultural equipment available in the market and provide customers with a wide array of professional skills, with solid product and agronomic backgrounds."

"With a full range of powerful agricultural equipment and leveraging on our broad expertise, local knowledge and the field support of our dealer network, we will help farmers to make the difference in their business," stated Raimondo.

Case IH is a world leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment with a long-established reputation in Africa for innovative and high-output equipment, especially in the combine segment and in the tractor range above 250 hp.

Under the distinctive red livery of Case IH is commercialized a wide offering of tractors from 55 to 608 hp, including the flagship Steiger^® Series, the renowned Puma^TM tractors and the Magnum^TM Series, recently awarded "Tractor of the Year 2015". These tractors are designed to withstand the most rugged conditions and deliver the maximum power for every task. Case IH's tractor line-up also includes units that are ideally suited for small to medium-sized farms, as the entry level JXT, JX Straddle and Farmall JX Series. These all-purpose tractors perfectly match the renowned Case IH quality with the robustness and the ease of maintenance needed by small farmers.

Case IH Axial-Flow^® combines have earned a leading position in the rotary combine harvester market in countries demanding for highly productive units and wherever large-scale and corporate farms are present, as in Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan and Ethiopia.

The company complements its offering with balers, tillage and seeding equipment, hay and forage machinery, sprayers, precision farming technologies as well as specialized machines such as cotton pickers and the industry-leading Austoft^® 8000 Series sugarcane harvesters, which are very popular in the sugar and ethanol industries in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Mauritius, as are Case IH cotton pickers in the Sudanese market.

Close to customers with extensive know-how and a growing network

"With such credentials, we are ready to support East Africa and Tanzania's efforts to introduce advanced farming practices," concluded Raimondo. "Our commitment includes advanced and powerful products, but also support, from parts availability, technical assistance and training for operators and technicians. We are also investing to be even closer to our customers, as testified by our partnership with Toyota Tsusho East Africa and Toyota Tanzania, and to further strengthen our presence in the region."

In Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, Case IH product offering is distributed by the Toyota Tsusho East Africa Limited. Case IH product portfolio is perfectly complemented by Toyota Tsusho's East Africa ltd experience and distribution network, which provide customers with the necessary after sales support, including parts availability and training.