Aftrak was founded by a team of engineers out of Loughborough University who set themselves the mission of developing small-scale, climate-smart mechanisation that is accessible to the world. Today Aftrak manufactures two-wheeled electric tractors that improve yields and productivity, reduce labour burden and noise pollution, but most importantly, are at a price farmers can afford. So far we operate across two continents: supporting orphanages in Malawi to grow food for the community, as well as market gardeners in the UK to provide high quality organic vegetables. But we have no plans of stopping there.
Most machinery available to a small holding is too big, too expensive, or built around an engine — and the engine is what makes a machine loud, dirty and impossible to run under cover. Take it out and a good deal of that goes with it.
So the AFT-e1 is a walk-behind tractor with a PTO and a battery you can swap in under a minute. It drives sixteen tools, works inside a polytunnel with the doors shut, and charges from the mains or from the sun. It is priced at what a small holding can justify rather than what a tractor usually costs.
We are a UK social venture, so impact comes before profit. The same machine is deployed with partners in Malawi and South Africa, and what we learn on those sites is what makes the one sold here better.
Small-scale, climate-smart mechanisation within reach of every farmer, on every continent.
Build two-wheeled electric tractors and the solar to charge them: machines that raise what the ground yields, take the labour and the noise out of the work, and cost what a small farm can actually pay.
The partnership provides a diverse skill set to ensure effective technological innovation and social integration of Aftrak.
The Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering is one of the biggest engineering schools of its kind in the UK, with a research portfolio of around £52 million. The Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) has around 60 academics, researchers and PhD students, and laboratory facilities for prototype manufacture and testing.
Visit CREST →
Tiyeni UK is a UK-based NGO that funded the development of Deep Bed Farming as a response to extreme food poverty in Malawi. Tiyeni Malawi is a Malawian company owned by Tiyeni UK and operated at arm's length by a Malawian team, growing to meet demand for DBF training following government approval of the approach.
Farmers adopting Deep Bed Farming typically raise their yields about two and a half times, and their revenue by up to twelve times, while all but eliminating expensive imported fertilisers.
Visit Tiyeni →
A global industry association and research organisation based in London with offices in the US and EU, setting the standard for advanced lead batteries and next-generation energy storage. Lead battery technology supports almost fully recyclable batteries using existing recycling streams.
Visit the CBI →
A Cape Town manufacturing and distribution company building Africa's in-country industrial capability. Under a supply agreement announced in April 2026, GMA assembles AFT-e1 kits at its Cape Town facility and distributes and supports the machine across South Africa and the wider SADC region.
The support is the point: a local spares library, a certified repair technician network and structured farmer training, so a machine sold in year one is still working in year ten.
Visit GMA →The AFT-e1 was designed for smallholder farming in Malawi, and it is assembled and distributed across southern Africa by GMA. That is where the system was proven, where the microgrids are, and where most of what we build still goes.
Where the machines are, who builds and sells them, and who is using them.
Where we workCountries, hubs and installations, on a map.
Partners & distributionAssembly, distribution, programme delivery and dealer territories.
Meet the growersThe holdings and sites using an AFT-e1, written up in full.
Awards & recognitionPrizes, grants and the programmes behind them.
Brochures & datasheetsThe brochure and per-product datasheets, as PDFs.
Become an Aftrak distributorTerritories are open across the UK and Europe.Announcements, deployments and technical notes.
Aftrak recruits in the UK and in-country. Roles in engineering, assembly, field support and programme delivery are posted here when open.