Two Indian tractor companies you’ve probably never heard of are giving John Deere a run for its money, especially in the fastest-growing developing world markets.
Mahindra is making strides in automobile manufacturing, but it first made a name for itself as a builder of light, compact tractors ideal for small farms. India is still Mahindra Tractors’ largest market, but it’s expanding its market share in Africa, establishing a strategic partnership in Tanzania and an export platform in South Africa. Hot on Mahindra’s heels is TAFE, another Indian farm equipment manufacturer that claims to be the third largest in the world. Based in Chennai and established as Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd., TAFE is already present in 10 African countries and is quickly growing customers on the continent. TAFE’s success in Africa is now spilling over into other developing markets—it’s one of the main distributors of farm machines in Afghanistan and is pursuing an expansion into South America.
Indian agtech finds success in Africa
The successes of TAFE and Mahindra are indicators of how Indian agricultural technology is uniquely suited for smallholder farmers everywhere but especially in rural Africa.
Both companies build light, tough, easy-to-repair, and affordable tractors that are winning over African farming communities. Both companies are also products of the Indian agricultural experience, where government support, innovation, and engineering attuned to local conditions helped lift the world’s most populous country from chronic food insecurity to becoming a major food exporter. Many of the same issues troubling Africa’s smallholder farmers today were commonplace throughout India in the 1950s and 1960s. India still has a long way to go, but the cradle of the Green Revolution has made massive leaps in farming and food production and is now considered world-class in agricultural research and innovation.
Indian ag technology is quickly gaining ground in the smallholder farming communities where Grow Further is present and seeking to enter. Here’s why.
Similar problems, similar potential
India’s tractors are increasingly popular with Africa’s farms because they are compact and well-suited for smallholders who typically farm only a couple of hectares. They’re also reliable and relatively easy to repair in those rare instances when they do break down. This is just one example of where a technology adapted to India’s needs found a home in African agriculture. There are others, notably in irrigation.
Farming in sub-Saharan Africa is predominantly rain-fed. Likewise, farming in India has evolved around the seasonal monsoon cycles. With a huge population comes the need to extend the growing season well beyond the monsoon rains. Thus, Indian farmers have adapted and refined several innovations in irrigation.
They tapped available sources of groundwater, lifting it to the service with linked pots in a system known as a Persian wheel. They captured and stored rain in strategically located cisterns, some arranged in cascading patterns so water overflowing from one would spill over into another, preventing water losses. In some regions of India, farmers dug simple pits lined with earthen dams called johads to hold rainwater for later use in fields. In other areas, they built drip irrigation systems using bamboo piping, a technology that later gave way to modern drip irrigation systems that are commonplace in much of Indian agriculture. As Pramod Ameta and Beanish Khan write in The History of Indian Agriculture “these traditional irrigation systems—many of them centuries or even millennia old—not only sustained agriculture but also fostered community cooperation, technological innovation, and ecological balance.”
India’s experience with irrigation innovation holds the potential to transform agriculture in Africa. “Innovative and water-efficient irrigation technologies could be one of the windows of opportunity to overcome water scarcity and enhance food security in these regions,” wrote two researchers in a recent study published in the journal Sustainability. They wrote in length on how drip irrigation systems developed in India are now popping up on Africa’s farms, given this tech’s emphasis on the most efficient use of scarce water resources. However, the authors Angom and Viswanathan, both scholars at the Amrita School for Sustainable Futures, caution that India is struggling with water overexploitation and groundwater depletion, problems that could be avoided in Africa with the right policies.
“By leveraging India’s technological strengths and Africa’s natural resources, both regions can foster a mutually beneficial partnership.”
Angom and Viswanathan also note India’s innovations in powering some irrigation technologies using renewable energy, notably solar power. India manufactures and exports solar energy systems to parts of Africa already; shipping solar-powered irrigation to regions in Africa where it can make a difference is a natural next step. The authors discuss how solar-powered irrigation is well-established in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and others. Since then, a similar push to expand solar-powered irrigation has been seen in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya, among other countries, with Indian tech at the forefront of that movement.
Seeding strategic partnerships
Indian agriculture is also busy experimenting with ways to make digital technologies work wonders for farmers. Africa stands to benefit here, as well.
The Indian ag technology company Farmonaut is crowing about its work with the governments of Zimbabwe and Nigeria. The company is helping the two African nations introduce more mechanization and improved irrigation. Next up, digital tools like artificial intelligence, supply chain tracking using blockchain, satellite crop monitoring, and mobile applications that African farmers can use on their handheld devices. Farmonaut brings its advice, skills, and business connections in India while Zimbabwe and Nigeria provide access to willing farmers and the cultural awareness necessary to make these innovations stick and have a lasting impact. “As more African countries embrace this collaborative approach, we can expect to see accelerated progress in agricultural development across the continent,” Farmonaut says in a synopsis.
African countries and research institutions are also exploring opportunities to partner with India on developing new crop varieties and improved seeds.
In September, Hyderabad will host the India-Africa Seed Summit. The organizers say their event makes a lot of sense given how Africa and India can be natural allies in developing, testing, and propagating new seeds. “By leveraging India’s technological strengths and Africa’s natural resources, both regions can foster a mutually beneficial partnership to enhance productivity, resilience, and long-term food security,” they wrote.
The event aims to have participants from both regions network and hopefully develop research partnerships. Hyderabad was chosen as the venue because that city hosts some 400 different seed companies and some of India’s top agriculture universities and research institutes. These resources are poised to help African nations tackle their rising food security needs and ballooning food import bills.
Africa holds enormous potential, the organizers say, but the continent is still lacking in technology and better techniques. “The India-Africa Seed Summit 2025 aims to bridge this gap by fostering collaboration and technology transfer, ensuring that Africa benefits from India’s expertise in seed innovation, research, and large-scale production.”
China has famously spearheaded major investments in African countries, but its focus has mainly been industrial, with Chinese firms building better roads, ports, and infrastructure to facilitate the extraction and export of key minerals that Africa holds in abundance. Today, India’s presence on the continent is rapidly rising, only this time the emphasis seems to be on agricultural spheres: Indian ag equipment, irrigation tech, and seed companies finding niches in Africa’s smallholder farms.
India-Africa partnerships in food security could play a prominent role in Grow Further’s mission to connect people and ideas for a more food-secure future. We’re excited about these developments and eager to see what comes next.
— Grow Further
Photo credit: From a promotional image on TAFE’s website showing one of its light tractors being delivered to a customer in Namibia. TAFE.