AGCO Corp., the world’s third-largest farm equipment maker, has disclosed plans to invest $100 million over the next three years, and help the development of farming in Africa.

According to CP-Africa, AGCO’s Director for Africa and the Middle East, Nuradin Osman, said: “The only frontier left for arable land is in Africa. We are in for the long-term in Africa. We’re coming here for 100 years and more.”

Osman said AGCO is planning to build tractor parts distribution warehouses valued at about $15 million each in East and West Africa, adding that about 60 percent of AGCO’s African sales come from South Africa and Morocco, while Nigeria, Zambia and Mozambique are growth areas it has identified.

In May, the Duluth-based manufacturer established a $35 million parts warehouse in Johannesburg. Based on report, in August, the company signed another agreement with Algeria Tractors Co, to build a production plant for Massey Ferguson tractors as part of AGCO’s strategy for agricultural development in Africa which includes: factory constructions, establishment of model farms for the demonstration of modern farming techniques and equipment operations, and collaboration with financial institutions for credit facilitation to farmers.

In the heat of the global food insecurity and inflated food prices, international organizations like the World Bank are looking to and assisting Africa to boost agricultural production, as its largely uncultivated arable land and people have been cited as the key to global food security by 2030.

The World bank has said that Africa constitutes 60 percent of the world’s uncultivated land, and also suggests that investment in agriculture has the potential to create across the value chain, from production to marketing, millions of jobs on the continent.

World leading consultancy firm, McKinsey & Co has that Africa whose farming GDP in 2010 was $280 billion, has the resources to escalate its farming output to the value of $880 billion by 2030.