{"id":4377,"date":"2023-02-28T13:00:45","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T04:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.standage.co.jp\/?p=4377"},"modified":"2026-02-06T15:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T06:49:10","slug":"%e3%80%90%e7%8f%be%e5%9c%b0%e3%83%ac%e3%83%9d%e3%83%bc%e3%83%88%e3%80%91%e9%a3%9f%e6%96%99%e8%87%aa%e7%b5%a6%e7%8e%87%e3%81%ae%e5%81%a5%e5%85%a8%e5%8c%96%e3%82%92%e7%9b%ae%e6%8c%87%e3%81%97%e3%81%a6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.standage.co.jp\/us\/2023\/02\/28\/%e3%80%90%e7%8f%be%e5%9c%b0%e3%83%ac%e3%83%9d%e3%83%bc%e3%83%88%e3%80%91%e9%a3%9f%e6%96%99%e8%87%aa%e7%b5%a6%e7%8e%87%e3%81%ae%e5%81%a5%e5%85%a8%e5%8c%96%e3%82%92%e7%9b%ae%e6%8c%87%e3%81%97%e3%81%a6\/","title":{"rendered":"[Local Report] Aiming for a healthy food self-sufficiency rate: The current state of agricultural machinery rental management in Egypt and challenges for digital transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukraine crisis makes agricultural development an urgent issue. Behind the booming economy lies a serious delay in digital transformation.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Akinori Adachi, hereinafter referred to as Standage), which develops and provides digital trade platforms, was selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a task force to carry out a "preliminary survey on grant aid," and in January 2011, conducted a survey of the current state of agricultural machinery lending management in Egypt. While Egypt continues to enjoy robust economic growth, it is in urgent need of improving its food self-sufficiency rate due to the Ukraine crisis, so it is extremely important for the country to improve the efficiency of agricultural machinery operation and develop agriculture.<\/strong>
\nStandage visited 11 of the 134 agricultural machinery lending centers, including those that Japan had previously provided through ODA, to find that there were a number of issues at the centers, including that all lending was managed using paper ledgers, that repairs for broken machinery were complicated and the machines were not being used efficiently, and that the average age of workers was over 40, resulting in a lack of staff who could use computers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bread is Egypt's staple food, and although there is a high domestic demand for wheat, domestic production is not enough to meet self-sufficiency, so the country relies on imports from other countries.
\nRecently, due to the unstable situation in Russia and Ukraine, which were our main import sources, it has become urgent to improve self-sufficiency.
\nIn the 1980s, Japan provided Egypt with agricultural machinery through ODA and established an agricultural machinery lending center. This survey project aims to digitize the agricultural machinery lending system, which is still managed on a paper basis today, thereby increasing the utilization rate of agricultural machinery and contributing to improving the country's self-sufficiency rate for agricultural products, including wheat.
\nFor details,Press release issued in November 2022<\/a>Please see.<\/p>\n

The total cultivated area in Egypt is only 3.88% of the country's land area, but the proportion of cultivated area in the delta region, where Japan has actively provided ODA, is higher than in other regions.
\nThis time, we conducted interviews with the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, and visited 11 of the 134 agricultural machinery rental centers in Egypt, mainly in the delta region, where the cultivated land ratio is high. Through the survey, we gained an overall understanding of the operations of the agricultural machinery rental centers currently in operation and conducted our research.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u25a0Current status of agricultural machinery lending management in Egypt<\/strong>
\nThe main challenges identified through the survey are as follows:<\/p>\n

1) All lending processes are managed on paper<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The entire process of renting agricultural machinery, including requesting service, checking machine inventory, calculating rental fees, creating purchase orders, and making payments, as well as managing schedules and security checks at the rental center, are all done manually and on paper.
\nPast records are piled up on shelves in the lending center in an unorganized state.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In addition, there is no system for managing which agricultural machinery is currently available for loan, so every time a loan request comes in, the person in charge must be called to confirm, or a person must go and check on the machinery's operating status.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2) The supply flow of spare parts is complicated and inefficient due to the small number of operational agricultural machines.
\nAt the 11 rental centers visited this time, many combine harvesters and tractors were found to be out of operation due to a lack of repair parts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is because requesting spare parts and carrying out repairs and maintenance requires the use of paper documents and going through a complex process, which results in inefficient parts supply and in repairs being carried out satisfactorily.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3) The employees are older and there is no one who can operate a PC.
\nNone of the 11 lending centers we visited had PCs or printers, and everything was managed on paper. Although the number of staff employed by the government was ample compared to the amount of work they were doing, most of them were in their 40s or 50s or older, and there were very few staff members at any of the centers who could use a PC, which is thought to be one of the reasons for the delay in digitization and systemization.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u25a0Opinions and thoughts<\/strong>
\nThrough our on-site research, we found that the agricultural machinery rental process is highly analog, and at the same time, the supply flow of parts needed for repair and maintenance of agricultural machinery is analog and inefficient. This is one of the reasons why existing agricultural machinery cannot be used efficiently and prevents the revitalization of agriculture.<\/p>\n

In response to the aforementioned issues that have been highlighted, Standage believes that possible solutions could include the introduction of a GPS-based agricultural machinery location tracking system, an online agricultural machinery advance reservation system linked to a fee calculation macro, and an inventory management system for repair and maintenance parts.
\nHowever, since the centers do not even have equipment such as PCs or WiFi, and management is done on paper, and not all staff members are able to use PCs, they need to start by developing the infrastructure required for digitalization, and providing training on PCs and management software.<\/p>\n

In addition, regarding the number of employees not commensurate with the volume of work, this survey revealed that the number of employees at the Lending Center was significantly increased due to the wishes of the previous administration. Since hasty digitalization could lead to the loss of jobs of employees, it is necessary to proceed while carefully coordinating with the field.<\/p>\n

Egypt and other parts of Africa have seen remarkable development in recent years, with optimistic economic news flooding in every day, including population growth, the rise of the wealthy, the cultural penetration of virtual currencies, and accelerating investment.
\nOn the other hand, it is also true that there are still many cases, such as the current case in Egypt, where deep-rooted problems at the national level are impeding business and national development.
\nSince its founding in 2017, Standage has focused on Africa and has four bases there. In order to continue contributing to the development of Africa, Standage will continue to engage in business while sincerely addressing social issues.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ukraine crisis has made agricultural development an urgent issue; behind the booming economy lies a serious delay in digital transformation. STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Akinori Adachi; hereinafter referred to as STANDAGE), a company that develops and provides digital trade platforms\u2026 Continue reading [Local Report] Aiming for a healthy food self-sufficiency rate: The current state of agricultural machinery rental management in Egypt and challenges for digital transformation<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46],"tags":[],"acf":{"en_news":{"custom_css":"","en_title":"\u3010Local Report\u3011 Aiming to Achieve Sound Food Self-Sufficiency: Current Status of Farm Machinery Lending Management in Egypt and Challenges for DX","content":"Ukraine Crisis Makes Agricultural Development an Urgent Issue DX is Seriously Lagging Behind the Booming Economy<\/strong>\r\n \r\n\r\n(Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Akinori Adachi; hereinafter referred to as Standage), a developer and provider of digital trade platforms, was selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a recipient of a work commission to conduct a \"preliminary study on grant aid. As a result, in January 2011, we conducted a survey on the current status of agricultural machinery lending management in Egypt. While Egypt continues to enjoy strong economic development, the crisis in Ukraine has made it urgent for the country to improve its food self-sufficiency ratio, and it is very important for Egypt to improve the efficiency of agricultural machinery operation and develop its agriculture.<\/span>\r\n\r\nStandage visited 11 of the 134 agricultural machinery lending centers, including those formerly supplied by Japan through ODA. The survey revealed a number of issues, including the fact that all lending is managed by paper ledgers, that repair arrangements for broken farm machinery are complicated and farm machinery does not operate efficiently, and that the average age of workers is over 40 years old and there are no personnel who can handle a PC.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBread is a major staple food in Egypt, and although domestic demand for wheat is very high, the country is unable to meet its self-sufficiency requirements with domestic production, relying instead on imports from other countries.<\/span>\r\n\r\nRecently, the unstable situation in Russia and Ukraine, which have been major import destinations, has made it imperative to improve self-sufficiency.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn the 1980s, Japan provided agricultural machinery to Egypt through ODA and established a lending center for agricultural machinery. This research project will contribute to increasing the utilization rate of agricultural machinery and improving the domestic self-sufficiency rate of wheat and other agricultural products by digitizing the lending of agricultural machinery, which is still managed on a paper basis today.<\/span>\r\n\r\n*For details, please see the press release<\/a> announced in November 2022.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe total cultivated area in Egypt is only 3.88% of the country's total land area, but among these, the percentage of cultivated area in the Delta region, where Japan has provided active ODA support, is higher than in other regions.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn addition to conducting hearings with the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, this time we visited 11 of the 134 agricultural machinery rental centers in Egypt, mainly in the Delta region, which has a high percentage of cultivated land. Through the survey, we obtained an overall picture of the operations of the agricultural machinery lending centers currently in operation and examined them.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\u25a0Current State of Egyptian Agricultural Machinery Lending Management<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe main issues identified through the survey are as follows:<\/span>\r\n\r\n1) All processes related to lending are managed entirely on a paper basis<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe entire process of lending agricultural machinery, including service requests, checking machinery inventory, calculating rental fees, preparing order forms, and making payments, as well as the management of itineraries and security checks at the lending center, are all managed manually in a paper-based system.<\/span>\r\n\r\nPast records are unorganized and stacked on shelves at the lending center.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nIn addition, there is no system to manage which farm machines are currently available for loan, so each time a loan request comes in, the farmer must call the person in charge to check on the machine's availability, or a person must actually go to the farm to check on the machine's availability.<\/span>\r\n\r\n(2) Complicated supply flow of replacement parts Inefficient with few operable farm machines<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nAt the 11 lending centers we visited this time, we found many combines and tractors that were not in operation due to inefficient supply of parts for repair.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nSince it is necessary to use paper documents and go through a complicated flow to request supply parts for repair and maintenance, the parts supply is inefficient and repairs are not satisfactorily carried out.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n(3) High age of workers and lack of people who can handle PCs<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nThe 11 lending centers we visited this time did not have PCs or printers, and were all operated on paper. Although the number of staff employed by the government is plentiful compared to the amount of work, most of them are in their 40s or 50s or older, and almost none of them can handle a PC at any of the centers, which is thought to be one of the reasons for the delay in digitization and systemization.<\/span>\r\n