The African Union Commission (AUC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through an Africa- wide consultative process, developed the Framework for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa (F-SAMA) in response to the request of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment. The framework was subsequently launched in Rome on 5th October 2018 and has ten priority elements geared towards informing policy and decision-makers in the Member States, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa, and the wider development community dealing with agricultural development on the significance of mainstreaming SAM in their overall national and regional agricultural development programmes. 

As part of operationalization of this framework, AfricaMechanize www.africamechanize.org  has been established as a SAM platform geared towards enhancing knowledge management, information sharing, networking, and partnerships in Africa. Through the platform, since November 2020 to date, twelve webinars have been conducted with Directors of Agricultural Mechanization and Engineering Services [DAMES] and other key stakeholders and practitioners of SAM in Africa on the ten priority elements of F-SAMA and operationalizing the framework in Africa. 

To continue with the momentum, AfricaMechanize Webinar Organizing Committee organized two webinars on 22nd and 23rd July 2024 as part of the 9WCCA plenary sessions as follows: