Germany’s Amatheon Agri Group and Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corporation have announced a joint $10 million agricultural development project in Zambia.
Amatheon Agri is a Germany-based agribusiness and food company that develops sustainable agricultural projects in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Uganda, and has interests in the food processing sector, and Toyota Tsusho, a part of the Toyota Group, has a presence in 53 African countries.
The joint venture will oversee the development of 1,400 hectares of land for the production of maize, corn and soy. The collaboration and project will be part of the development of Amatheon’s existing 40,000 hectares of farmland, and the Amatheon-Agri Group will be the project’s main stakeholder and operating partner.
Both companies view this project as an action upon their understanding of not only profitable, but responsible agricultural investment in the growing agri sector in Southern Africa. And as part of their sustainability objectives, the venture will support local smallholders through training and increased market access.
“We are excited about this partnership and we look forward to leveraging Toyota’s extensive technical know-how and international network with Amatheon Group’s expertise and sound operating procedures,”says Carl Heinrich Bruhn, chief executive officer and found of Amatheon Group.
In addition, the Zambian Environmental Management Agency has already approved plans for a large-scale irrigation project.