CEMA and FAO renew MoU to drive sustainable agricultural mechanization worldwide

The European Agricultural Machinery Association (CEMA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), extending a decade-long partnership to advance the adoption of sustainable agricultural mechanization (SAM), by farmers worldwide.

Since 2015, the FAO - CEMA partnership has promoted policy dialogue and collaboration on sustainable, inclusive, and climate-smart mechanization. It has fostered knowledge exchange, developed best practices, and supported country-level implementation tailored to local needs. The renewal comes as governments seek practical pathways to raise productivity while cutting emissions and easing labour constraints.

The renewed MoU expands the scope to include cutting-edge digital and artificial intelligence applications in farming and continues supporting government policies that encourage the sustainable and adapted use of agricultural machinery.

Over the past decade of collaboration, CEMA and FAO have delivered important results, including:

• The Framework for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization for Africa (F-SAMA) (2018)
• CEMA's Position Paper on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization presented to the European Commission (2019)
• The Global Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (GAMC) and its first-ever agricultural machinery exhibition held at FAO headquarters (2023)

During the MoU renewal ceremony, FAO underscored the partnership's role in advancing Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger by helping small-scale producers increase productivity and incomes while building resilience and shifting to sustainable food production systems.

"In this next phase of the partnership, we will not only continue promoting sustainable agricultural mechanization at the smallholder farmer level but also explore the application of precision and digital agriculture, including artificial intelligence," said FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol. "We will leverage CEMA's technical expertise together with FAO's Science and Innovation Strategy - including work on safety guidelines for drones and pilots of small agricultural robots," she added.

CEMA's mission to foster innovation and share technical expertise in support of sustainable agriculture aligns with FAO's efforts to improve food security and nutrition in a world where over nearly 300 million facing high levels of acute food insecurity.

"Our partnership with FAO reflects CEMA's strong commitment to advancing sustainable farming through innovation and collaboration," said CEMA Vice-President Carlo Lambro. "Agricultural machinery has the power to transform lives, and together we are ensuring that this transformation is sustainable, inclusive and beneficial for farmers everywhere-from Europe to Africa and beyond."

Looking ahead, FAO and CEMA will deepen collaboration on field implementation and data-driven policy support. CEMA will continue to maintain agricultural machinery and trade datasets, and FAO will further update its FAOSTAT machinery database.

Together, the two organizations reaffirm their commitment to integrating sustainable agricultural mechanization into agrifood systems through knowledge exchange and inclusive partnerships-working towards a more productive, resilient, and climate-smart agricultural future.

Event picture gallery available HERE.

Read more:

• FAO/CEMA partnership (FAO website)
• FAO/CEMA partnership - MoU renewal December 2021 (CEMA website)
• CEMA's Position Paper "Promoting Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa"
• Hybrid event: Showcasing the collaboration between the FAO and CEMA
• Agricultural machinery exhibition during the GAMC