May 2012

Leaders from seven agriculture equipment manufacturing associations from around the world have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to officially launch the Agrievolution Alliance, which will facilitate collaboration and cooperation on a global basis within the ag equipment manufacturing industry.

The associations are based in Brazil, Europe, France, India, Italy, North America and Turkey.

The founding associations are:

• ABIMAQ - Brazilian Association of Industrial Machinery and Equipment
• AEM - Association of Equipment Manufacturers – USA/North America
• AXEMA - Association for Industrial Agricultural Equipment, France
• CEMA - European Agricultural Machinery Association
• FICCI - Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
• TARMAKBIR - Turkish Association of Agricultural Machinery & Equipment Manufacturers
• UNACOMA - Italian Farm Machinery Manufacturers Association

Association leaders established the alliance in the shared belief that in today’s global agricultural economy, it is crucial that current issues and future challenges be viewed and worked upon from a global perspective.

The alliance will focus on three areas: industry-specific issues, information exchange and public policy issues. Possible areas of action include coordinating input to harmonization of standards and regulations, serving as an industry liaison with groups such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), using a combined voice on issues such as free trade, and developing a method to regularly exchange market and other industry data.

Alliance goals will be achieved through consistent communication among alliance members via website, email and regular meetings as well as subcommittees assigned to handle certain issues or complete specific tasks.

The alliance will also conduct a global educational forum – the Agrievolution Forum – as a key way to also achieve alliance goals. The forum is planned to be held at various world locations approximately every 18 months. Forum participants will include alliance partners, invited associations, government officials, academia, top-level farmers and other agricultural stakeholders.

The Agrievolution Alliance has roots going back to 2008, when Italian association UNACOMA first hosted an Agrievolution Forum in Rome as a stand-alone event. Forums have since been hosted by the North American AEM association in the U.S in 2010 at AG CONNECT Expo and by the French association AXEMA in Paris in 2011 at the SIMA International Agribusiness Show.

The next Agrievolution Forum will be held in December 2013 in India, hosted by the Indian group FICCI in conjunction with the agricultural trade fair EIMA India. This will be the first Agrievolution Forum since the transition of the event into a formal alliance.

As the alliance develops, it will invite ag machinery associations from other world regions to join.

The MOU signing took place at the Brazilian ag machinery manufacturers’ association ABIMAQ in Sao Paulo, Brazil in late April 2012.