Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and KiliMOL, an Agricultural Machinery Exporter to Africa, Selected for JICA’s “SME/SDGs Business Support Project” to Promote Mechanization of Rice Planting in Kenya
Lines, Ltd. (President and CEO: Tsuyoshi Hashimoto; Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter referred to as “MOL”), KiliMOL Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Mikio Oyama), which engages in agricultural machinery export business to Africa, was born from an employee proposal system. , Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter referred to as “KiliMOL” (pronunciation: Kirimol, Note 1), Karasawa Agricultural Machinery Service Co., Ltd. (President: Takeyuki Karasawa, Headquarters: Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture, hereinafter “KiliMOL”) The application, “Development of seedling raising technology for use of rice transplanters in Kenya and demonstration project for commercialization using rice transplanters”, is being carried out by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (hereinafter “JICA”). (Note 2).
[Image
Rice transplanter demonstration held in Kenya in September 2022 Aiming to popularize rice transplanters in Kenya, where the
mechanization of rice planting work is lagging behind, over a period of about one year after the start of the contract with JICA
, in cooperation with Kenyan government ministries and agencies, research and verification of optimal seedling raising methods, development of customer candidates and partners, lectures on how to use rice transplanters, etc., and business models such as providing services using rice transplanters. inspection
To do.
In Kenya, the consumption of rice is growing and domestic production is increasing, but the country still depends on imports for about 80% of its consumption. On the other hand, in Kenya, rice planting is almost entirely done by hand, and the current situation is that the manpower cannot keep up with the pace of expansion. In addition, weeding work is inefficient due to uneven spacing between rows, which leads to an increase in production costs.
KiliMOL has already exported used ride-on and walk-behind rice transplanters from Japan to the country, and is providing technical support locally in cooperation with Karasawa Agricultural Machinery. Through this support project, we aim to promote the spread of rice transplanters, improve agricultural productivity, and contribute to the reduction of hunger and poverty by developing a large-scale environment for raising seedlings in a manner that suits the local area.
(Note 1) Please refer to MOL’s press release dated April 27, 2021, titled “Used Agricultural Machinery Export Business to Africa Utilizing Cross-Border E-Commerce Site ~Establishment of KiliMOL Co., Ltd.~”.
(Note 2) Please refer to JICA’s February 20, 2023 press release “Fiscal 2022 ‘SMEs and SDGs Business Support Projects’: 59 projects selected.”
[About KiliMOL Co., Ltd.]
Established in May 2021 as an operating company for the “Agricultural Machinery Export Business to Africa Utilizing Cross-border EC Sites” born from MOL’s employee proposal system. The name comes from the Swahili word kilimo, which means “agriculture” and the abbreviation “MOL” for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines. Currently, we are focusing on cultivating demand in Kenya, where we use MOL’s car carriers and MOL Logistics’ transportation network to transport agricultural machinery, and once it arrives in Kenya, we transport it by land using our own trucks. By strengthening the activities of the MOL Group’s bases in Africa and Kenya, we aim to expand business areas beyond agricultural machinery export business in Africa.
Website: https://kilimol.net/
[About Karasawa Agricultural Machinery Service Co., Ltd.]
Founded in 1992 by commercializing agricultural machinery repair business. While mainly selling, repairing, and remanufacturing agricultural machinery, it also operates an Internet business that includes website creation, marketing, and consulting. In addition, more than 300 agricultural machinery dealers nationwide are
affiliated, and the agricultural machinery marketplace “Nouki Navi” with a cumulative transaction value of over 1.8 billion yen is operated. We are developing a pioneering agriculture-related business that combines agriculture and IT. In February 2021, Hachijuni Bank, Hachijuni Capital Co., Ltd., Gunma Bank, SMBC Group and other financial institutions raised 190 million yen, including a third-party allotment and a loan agreement. to further accelerate corporate growth.
Karasawa Agricultural Machinery Service Co., Ltd. Website:
https://www.karasawanouki.co.jp/
Agricultural machinery marketplace “Noukinavi”: https://www.noukinavi.com/ Details about this release:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000024.000092744.html
MAIL:cr@prtimes.co.jp