Phase 1: Inception and Development (2015–2017)

• 2015: The journey began with a campaign initiated by the former African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, during the 25th AU Heads of State Summit to “confine the hand-held hoe to the museum”.
• 2016:
  • July: An Inception Workshop was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the topic “Sending the Hoe to Museum,” organized by FAO and AUC, where stakeholders agreed to develop the F-SAMA.
  • July–December: A consultative process was facilitated by FAO-SFE and AUC-DREA involving Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and member countries.
  • December: A consultative regional meeting was held, leading to an agreement in principle to establish the “Africa-Mechanize” information platform.
• 2017: A stakeholder conference was convened in Addis Ababa in May to review the draft F-SAMA report.

Phase 2: Launch and Endorsement (2018)

• October 2018:
  • Official Launch: The F-SAMA document was officially launched by the AUC and FAO in Rome, Italy, during a side event of the Committee on Agriculture (COAG) meeting.
  • Continental Endorsement: At the 2nd African Congress on Conservation Agriculture (2ACCA) in Johannesburg, the congress welcomed the finalization of the F-SAMA and urged the advancement of African-focused mechanisms to deliver sustainable agricultural mechanization (SAM).

Phase 3: Operationalization and Partnerships (2019)

• February 2019: FAO and the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Rome to support the implementation of the SAMA Framework.
• May 2019: A workshop on “Advancing the Operationalization of the SAMA Framework” was held in Addis Ababa to establish an institutional framework.
• October 2019: The AUC and the Government of Burkina Faso organized the “Retiring the hand hoe to the museum” event in Bobo Dioulasso, inaugurating a monument symbolizing the end of the hand-held hoe as the main tool for production.
• November 2019: Initial activities commenced with a regional workshop in Kampala to engage sub-regional and national partners.

Phase 4: Digital Knowledge Sharing and Investment Planning (2020–2021)

• 2020:
  • Webinar Series Launch: The Africa Mechanize Platform launched a series of webinars to operationalize F-SAMA.
  • November: The first webinar introduced F-SAMA to Directors of Agricultural Mechanization & Engineering Services (DAMES).
  • December: The second webinar focused on private and civil sector promotion of SAM.
• 2021:
  • Investment Study: A study was commissioned to develop “Directions for Investment (D4I) in Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa,” identifying six priority areas for investment.
  • Webinar Continuation: A series of webinars (3rd through 8th) covered diverse topics including pathways in Nigeria and Cameroon, innovative financing, social sustainability for women and youth, and lessons learned.

Phase 5: Institutionalization and Global Advocacy (2022–2025)

• March 2022: A virtual meeting of DAMES from 30 countries was convened to establish operational structures. This resulted in the formation of an Interim Steering Committee (ISC) to oversee the creation of a formal network for DAMES.
• 2022: The MoU between FAO and ACT was renewed to continue supporting the implementation process.
• May 2023: The 3rd African Congress on Conservation Agriculture (3ACCA) resulted in the “Rabat Declaration,” which urged the AU to operationalize F-SAMA to increase support from donors and UN organizations.
• September 2023: FAO organized the first-ever Global Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (GAMC) to foster learning and scaling of SAM technologies.

October 2025: The F-SAMA webinar series, organized under the Africa Mechanize Platform, is noted to conclude this phase, having delivered 15 webinars since November 2020.