Demonstration of Japanese used agricultural machinery in MWEA area

Demonstration of Japanese used agricultural machinery MWEA area

MOL (Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd) and Karasawa Agricultural Machinery Service Co Ltd jointly conducted a demonstration of Japanese used agricultural machinery around the MWEA region. This region in Kenya is well known for its rice fields. Together with CaDPERP (Capacity Development for Enhancement of Rice Production in Irrigation Schemes in Kenya), the demonstration was held during the second week in March 2021.

KiliMOL: agricultural cooperation

With its East African focus, these two Japanese companies decided to join hands vide e-commerce (EC) site in September 2020. The EC site was aptly named KiliMOL. “Kilimo” in Swahili means agriculture and MOL, stands for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. Karasawa Agricultural Machinery Service Co Ltd, with its nationwide network of over 300 agricultural machinery dealers in Japan, has the capacity to procure high-quality used agricultural machinery from all over Japan, while MOL overseas transportation history dates back over 130 years. With this collaboration, these two Japanese companies aim to extend its support to the agricultural sector in the developing economies.

Kenya as first step

‘KiliMOL’ aims to contribute agricultural sector especially in Africa with efficient and modern machines, such as tractors, harvesters and weeders, as part of the ongoing mechanized rice farming process. Kenya, due to its remarkable economic growth, would be the first country to receive the expertise. Systematic support to the agricultural sector is expected to benefit the farmers at large. In the future, they will look to expand to other East African countries, such as Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia.

About the project

The initial phase involved importation of five used agricultural machines from Japan. MOL transported them by its RORO ship ‘MARGUERITE ACE’.  The machines arrived at Mombasa Port in Kenya on February 19, 2021. MOL’s group company in Kenya, MOL Logistics Holding (Europe) B.V. Nairobi Branch, headed by Mr. Srikaanth Sreenivasan, arranged the customs clearance and its transportation to MWEA.

Support by MOL Logistics Kenya office

Our local office offered full support to the MOL Tokyo team for the launch of its initiative, and it was a success! Our support included:

• Apart from administration work in Kenya, pre-launch preparation included joint sales visits to identify potential distributors of spares during initial visits of our well respected colleagues.
• Identification of the right agent to perform the tasks of clearance and  for the movement of containers from the port to CFS and from CFS to the demonstration facility.
• Coordinated and handled the marine insurance part too.
• Constant and proactive communication resulted in our colleagues rescheduling the visit and demonstration to appropriate date.
• Followed up the arrival of containers and despite challenges from KRA system for approvals, we managed to deliver the machineries to the demonstration site just in time.
• MLG KE also extended financial assistance where required to fasten up the process.
• We also assisted in coordinating with media for the live demonstration and post demonstration too.

We are currently assisting in getting the number plates registered for the tractors which involves registering with NTSA (local authority), taking the offices for inspection and final approval of registration.

Overall, it was exciting and a good learning experience and MOL Logistics Kenya will extend its whole hearted support in the future as well.

If you need your own forwarding or logistics in the African continent, make sure you contact our regional office in Nairobi, Kenya.

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